FoW game, Saturday 9/11/13 - 144RAC vs Germans

Finally getting around to posting some of the pictures from my game with YD last weekend. It's been a busy week so I hadn't got round to typing anything up (and nothing to do with the fact I got soundly thumped).

This was my first game playing with a armored list, using a list from Overlord and the 11th armored list as a proxy for my 33 Armored Brigade.

I fielded a lot of unpainted mini's in this game, which is something I have been avoiding whenever possible. But I fancied changing things up a bit and seeing how I got on. The list consisted of (roughly):

Confident Trained Armor:

Command Troop (2 x Sherman I's)

2 x Troops (3 x Sherman I's, 1 x Firefly)

1 x Recce troop (3 x Daimler I's, 2 x Humber LRC's)

2 x Highland Division Infantry Platoons (in De-frocked priests)

1 x A/T platoon (4 x 6 pounder guns)

Priority air support.

Light cruiser artillery support (off table) - this was mainly to make up the points and I had a ground team spotter for them.

YD fielded his Confident Vet infantry, with 2 x 4 Panzer IV's and 1 x Tiger, Neb's and a few other bits and bobs.

Neither of these lists were strictly speaking accurate, but what the hell!

A brief synopsis of the game saw me advancing into contact and getting bogged down due to dug in Pak40's (again!). A few Shermans were lost without much forward movement, then the Tiger got involved and my Shermans started to pop all over the place. The game ended without me killing many units and with my infantry not even dismounting before I decided I would fall back and concede.

YD's 15mm Tiger

YD's German infantry

Result: Allied Defeat!

Carluke Club 9/11/13

I took a few pictures at the club yesterday and didn't get around to posting anything last night. Today in the UK is Remembrance Sunday. I spent my two minutes in silence at 11am and stopped in the street to watch the pipers and parade of local organisations (scouts, Guides, etc) heading to the memorial hall in Lanark. I thought a lot about whether to post or not today, the connection between war and playing war games is a close and sensitive one. I'm the first to say I enjoy playing the games I play - but I would also say that war itself is abhorrent.

My FoW collection is for me a memorial to my Grandfather - a Sherman tank driver with 144th Regiment, Royal Armored Corps. He served (and survived) in the NWE theatre from as far as I know the regiment landing just after d-day till the occupation of Germany and then onto Italy before being De-mobbed.

In my living room I have his ID tags, complete with the original string worn smooth where he had it around his neck.

My interest in warfare, as I have gotten older, has moved away from awe of the kit to awe of the men. My knowledge and my search for knowledge is not to me glorification of war, but glorification of those men (and women) that died and that survived. As a society we say 'Lest we forget', but as individuals we do forget. Or we never take the time to learn just how bad it was - and is for those that are currently serving or surviving having served.

So I thought about whether, today, to post a blog about a game that was played yesterday. But at the end of the day, it is a game. Playing it is no dishonour to the gamers, and no dishonour to the fallen. So posting pictured of it shouldn't be either.

Apologies for the rambling justification, and apologies if you do think that posting today was disrespectful. I can assure you, no disrespect was intended.

Anyway, first up some pics of the Napoleonic multi player game that was going on. French models were provided by Auld Davey, British by John P. I only stopped by the game from time to time to take some pictures, so no battler report. I gather the French were attacking a British held ridge line, and that the British won.

Just to say, as these games are multi player they are largely collaborative. If you wanted to play then some forces would be assigned to you and everyone would be happy to help you play the game. One of the great things about the club.

French on the right, Brits on the left.

Sherman Crab Flail Work In Progress (Part III)

Onto part 3 of the series of Sherman Crab progress posts... At this stage, I have no idea how long the series will be!

Getting the basecoat on, blocking in the main colours and then using Army Painter Strong Tone on them left me with highlights to do and the dusty effect I have been aiming for.

I picked up some Vallejo pigments and set about making a mess of both models. Stupidly I was confident I would get the effect I wanted (or close to it) first time round. What a fool I am!

Next day, with a hot tap and a old toothbrush, I found myself scrubbing away.

Another few attempts with pigments, and I defaulted to using a drybrush. Another possible mistake at this point is that I've not applied decals yet. This may come back to be an issue later.

Still having issues with lighting for pictures. I also toned down the paint on the mantlet end of the gun barrel after looking at these pics.