Picking up those brushes again.

Hi and welcome to the occasional mutterings of Dave Doc, a military modeller and some time gamer. Gaming and model making has given me a real education, History & Geography(obvious really), Artistry, Politics, Economics, Logistics, Project Management -you try building miniature armies without the last 3.

I will use the blog to record my creations & the odd occasion I actually do some gaming.

I have always been inspired by the aesthetic side of gaming. Playing on well constructed terrain using excellently painted units is always a joy.

Friday 29 March 2019

Sudan - Bengal Lancers on camels & vignette pieces

This is a little left field unit to add to the Sudan collection. I found a little line drawing of a bengal lancer mounted on a camel from my 1880's edition of Cassels War in the Sudan. So I thought a small unit of these was a valid project.


They are a marriage of Bengal Lancer figures and camels from the old connoisseur range sold by Bicorne . I had to do a little work on making the front saddle pommel from milliput , but other than that a fairly simple job.



Next I picked up a pack of Foundry figures at Hammerhead - these were for AZW , they  just needed a little bit of work to file of the cuff details -
a pair busy hammering in range markers 

wounded pair and wounded dragging an ammo box. 

I am back on to ww2 stuff coming up as work progresses on a D Day game for June. 



Sunday 17 March 2019

Gaming - Franco Prussian War - Battle of Worth

Today saw another gathering for the Old Guard Group. This time John had dusted of his 15mm FPW collection and had set up the battle - The Battle of Wörth, also known as the Battle of Reichshoffen or as the Battle of Frœschwiller, refers to the second battle of Wörth, which took place on 6 August 1870 in the opening stages of the FPW. This was played on a 12x6 table using Black Powder with some rule tweaks so firing occurred first , then movement. Plus characteristic changes for superior Prussian gunnery, and better French rifle fire. 

The battle saw one French corps vastly outnumbered trying to hold out.. it went to the last turn.. but being outnumbered 3 to one took its toll. MartinC and I were French against JamesM and Peres tuetonic hordes. 


Anyway here the battle shots. 



Pussians to the eft , French to right


centre of the French lines


French corps artillery reserve


Bavarians






The initial Prussian assault - which is repulsed , but at cost


Bavarians capture the wood 


quieter at the the other end - but marching is heard


t
Wurtemurgers arrive

It was a really good game . it ran down to wire- the French just ran out troops and were overwhelmed 

Saturday 16 March 2019

Wings of Glory - 1940 RAF Defiants and Battles

I have added some more planes to my 1/200th 1940 RAF collection.  These are by Dave at Armaments in Miniatures - and are great little resin casts. Really enjoyed painting these. I have also now sourced a host of acrylic propeller spinners and have started adding these to planes in the collection.

A pair of Boulton Paul Defiants 


Let’s hope the bandits are behind us! 





Next up a pair of Fairey Battles 



Sunday 10 March 2019

Sudan . NSW Infantry and water carriers

with having another large game booked it is time to do another top up of units for the Sudan collection.

First up the New South Wales infantry battalion. The New South Wales Infantry Battalion deployed to the Sudan along with a battery of 9lb guns - the first foreign deployment for a force made up of Australian units - from the colony of New South Wales. There was a deployment of a levy of 400 men to NZ in 1850 for the Land Wars in British units . Australia didn’t become fully federated until 1901, so it was still 6 separate colonies... hence these are from NSW!- there you learnt something didn’t ya!. Anyway this  helped make the Sudan a real imperial effort with troops from around the empire taking part. This unit will accompany the artillery battery completed a few years ago.


Perry plastics


I have more imperial infantry unit left that i want paint. 

Next up are some water carrier carts to accompany the columns (makes good scenario targets too) - the ration of water for the troops was 2 gallons a day - i may need some more!


These are repurposed Empress AZW items .with some Perry and Connoissuer Sudan bits added..

Monday 4 March 2019

Gaming - Wings of Glory BoB , games 7 & 8

Today saw another couple of games on the campaign ladder . They were cracking!


Game 7
July 25th - The straits are closed in daylight

2 Me109 , 2 Ju87  v 3 Spitfire to defend the convoy
A vic of Spitfires head to protect a convoy
I have some new flight stands and have started adding propellor spinners , plenty more to do.

Me109s top cover ahead of 2 Stukas


Spits focus on the Ju87s 

powering past the fighter escort ... its blaze away at the bombers closing on the convoy
The Me109 turning circle is proving a problem as they cant get back around tight enough to get at the Spitfires quickly
The Stukas are taking a battering,  one is on fire as they scream down to the  cargo ships. boom! two ships sunk
The Spitfires and AA defence did for both Stuka's , but only after dropping their bombs successfully .  However the Stuka defensive fire had damaged two Spitfires with engine problems and pilot , P.O. Walker found himself bounced by an Me109 as he tried to turn and head home ., he baled out in the channel

German Victory - 2 Ju87s shot down vs 2 ships sunk, 1 Spitfire shot down .

Campaign Progress
P.O. Cooke claims 2 Ju87 , celebrates with a victory role over his airfield - gets a dressing down around being spread across the airfield like raspberry jam..if hed' been damaged... yadda , yadda.. Fails a promotion board AGAIN...... and no medals again..campaign XP 10
PO.Walker - damaged a JU87 , shot down, baled out into channel, picked up by an RAF launch - Campaign XP 1
P.O. Anderson - was wounded by a JU87 rear gunner , crash landed on return , 2 minor wounds only , misses two turns - now experienced - Campaign XP 2

Ju87 crew , crash into the channel , and await rescue

Game 8 
July 27th 1940 Bomb the Luftwaffe

2 Me109 , AA gun , defend the airfield v 2 Hurricanes , 2 Blenheim's 

Low level bombing raid on a Luftwaffe airfield in occupied France.

RAF coming in fast and low
Me109s at height head out to intercept

p.o. Wallace climbs away from strafing the AA guns and fires at an ME109


Pete has placed his AA guns in the direct path . I decided to hit the deck with Hurricanes and strafe these before the Blenheim's had to pass them . Taking a bit of a chance on the ME109's only getting one pass at the Blenheim's before they could bomb. It worked , the AA was knocked out by the strafing of both Hurricanes , they then turned to climb and try and get back to to deal with the fighters.  F.O. Thompson seemed to be having trouble with his instruments and proceeded to do a wide turn the opposite way to his wing man P.O Wallace , who was also taking AA MG fire from the airfield as well . But the way was clear of big guns for the Blenheim's.

Bomb on target! take that fritz!
The ME109s , did little damage on their initial pass Novice Blenheim pilot  P.O. Smith dropped his bombs right on target , as did the following P.O. Kelly . The lead aircraft was being peppered by AA MG fire though, and as they turned for home they had to deal with getting away from the ME109's



p.o. Wallace engages a fighter - where the hell is F.O. Thompson.
PO Smiths Blenheim was next hit hard by me109 cannon fire , and blew up crashing into the ground. Though the defensive fire had inflicted damage on the ME109s  

PO Kelly used his "lucky" skill avoid a real  hammering on one turn as he raced the Blenheim home
Things then all went a bit hectic. PO. Wallace was out manoeuvred and took a hammering , he only just "luckily" escaped his cockpit after being initially trapped inside. he floated down on his chute , watching on what happened next..

At this point F.O. Thompson rejoined the fray - his dander was up.. having seen two RAF planes go down. He flew past PO. Kelly toward the lead ME109 , bit fell off it , and down it went... he headed straight to the next one... as it filled his sights he blazed away and down it went too! He turnd for home!

British Victory - 2 successful bomb runs max damage, 2 ME109 shot down , 1 Hurricane , 1 Blenheim shot down.
RAF
F.O. Thompson returned home safely after strafing AA guns , and shooting down 2 ME109 - talking up his success secures an immediate promotion to Flight Lt ...no medals though.  Campaign XP 10
P.O. Wallace - again luckily manages to evade capture and is assisted bt the resistance, he steals a boat and makes his way across the channel. he will be having words with Thompson.. Campaign XP 2
PO. Kelly and crew , return home safely
P.O. Smith and crew , all very seriously wounded and captured

LUFTWAFFE
Lt Hans Franz - shot down, baled out , rescued by infantry unit  , severe wounds , horrible scars , miss two turns - Campaign XP 4
Lt Helmut Stienberger , shoots down a Hurricane & Blenheim . Shot down , bales out , no injuries , feted by the commander of a panzer unit .  Campaign XP13 - fails promotion, and no extra medals this time - well they didn't stop the airfield being hammered I guess!


CAMPAIGN TRACKER 
British Victories = 4 , German Victories = 4 , Draws 0 

These were both brilliant games , hard fought - both of which we ended up surprised by who won !

Sunday 3 March 2019

Gaming - Hammerhead - a good day out

A bunch of The Old Guard were at Hammerhead yesterday , enjoying a show with a good atmosphere and decent shopping too. MartinC , JamesM and I  had travelled on Friday to make a weekend of it , Pete and John joined us early on Saturday.We spent Friday night over beer and curry chatting through some future planned games , and then looking at a combined project. This will be 1967 Arab Israeli war done in 3mm over a very large table so we will do big battles on a larger scale .

 James took time to go round and take pictures of all the games which he has posted here. There were some good looking games. Martins write up is here 

We played 7 games of our Pulp game - Pyramid of Doom. Most of the participants were young future gamers who had a good time charging around. The mission was accomplished on all games .


We had a lot of positive comments re how good the table looked , which was good. its always one of our criteria for a good game.

the pyramid o doom!

Pete from the OG played the first game to warm things up. Martns maniacal laugh suggest he knows what  nasties await!


the skulls represent lives left on the galant rescue party

The stash sourced was good . I picked up stuff mainly to help with storage wars and extra stuff for the Normandy project.

Pill boxes and tank traps 

2 x 50mm deep really useful box inserts from Sally 4th 

Magnetic sheeting for box inserts , and vac formed shell holes

Pack of 15mmStuarts, couple of packs for Sudan vignettes and angle measurer

proper Tales of the Golden Monkey figures and decal top up

a 1/144th die cast P38  found on the bring and buy..for £2

All in all a great weekend.