Final Painting Offerings of 2011

Happy holidays and a Merry Christmas!

Well, for those of you who don't read the blog from Analogue Hobbies (link on the left); you really should! But as well, I will post up some pictures of what I have been painting lately on here too!

First up, some Napoleonics!

One of the wonderful Perry casualty miniatures. This is one from the forthcoming South Linconshire regiment.

My second artillery battery, 2 9 pounder guns and a 5.5" howitzer with all their crew

The reverse of the same unit

 Plus, the all important man himself, Stephen Fry! I mean, the Duke of Wellington...

If you have a spare 5 minutes, I highly recommend reminding yourself of this show. I like to think of the Duke like how he is portrayed here!

Two shots of the Duke himself, maintaining a commanding position on the battlefield!


In addition to that Napoleonics stuff, I also managed to get an M8 Greyhound scout car done. Why? Well it was sitting on my desk waiting to be painted. Or is it for a secret project?

Hint- It's not for a secret project...

Well, that is all folks! No more painting for 2011 for me, I am off on holiday this afternoon, returning in the New Year. I think I will put up one more blog post before the year is out, but this is the last one with proper pictures!

Merry Christmas, I hope Santa brought all of the Toy Soldiers you desired...

CP

Bedecon Report

Well, it's Monday, I am back home and recovering from a great weekend's gaming up in Wellington!

As previously mentioned, this weekend was Bedecon (Bunkers and Beaches), a 1750 point late war, Normandy themed tournament. I was running my 2nd Armoured Division "Hell on Wheels", trying to push through the bocage during Operation Cobra.

I played 5 games over the tournament, all Axis vs Allies (not everyone was so lucky), and got caught up in my games so much that I mostly forgot to take photos. Oops.

The tournament was on the whole really, really cool. The tables had some great terrain on them, as well as some really interesting army list choices! Far too many Festungs and Bodenstandings companies for my tastes, but they were pretty darn common in Normandy! The 5 guys I played, Alex, John, Bede, Damien and Callum I would all play again.

 The platoon of 76mms racing around the wreckage of their opponents in Game 1.

 The observer looks out over the vast fortifications in front of him. Why yes, that is a PaK 43 bunker. Notice how you can see no tanks?

It's because this is the picture of the other flank! There was no way I was going to be able to deal with that big mother head on.

Highlights of the weekend? Turn one of the first game, the 5 76mm shermans spearhead move, then zip up to 2 tigers and proceed to blast them away with stabilizers. Toughest thing to watch was against Bede, where his ROF 3 tigers and 3 PaK 40s literally could not hit. Anything. At all. Which really cost him the chance of the win, because although my dice were average, they were better than absolute rubbish! Even worse was when he did finally hit with 2 shots, I rolled 2 sixes to save. It was tough to watch. Fail of the weekend? Well... I am going to claim that one. I asked Bede to look at his 3 early war books, and him being the gentleman he is lent them to me. So what do I do? Dribble a small amount of coffee on them. Not so much that they are ruined, just enough that there is a mark. Fail. Absolute fail. Bede took it like a champ, and new books will be winging their way to him shortly!

The last word I will leave to what was one of the coolest models at the entire tournament, provided by Leamy.

Why yes, yes that is a battleship. The HMS King George V in fact. Didn't make his naval guns hit anything however....

Big news on painting and projects tommorow.

CP

Bunkers and Beaches (better known as Bedecon!)

This weekend I am off to Wellington, to compete in a new tournament, run by a good mate, Bede. This is going to be my last tournament of the year, much to the delight of my partner who I am sure has had enough of my being away playing toy soldiers!

The tournament itself is themed around the battle of Normandy, spanning the initial landings on D-Day, up until around the time the Falaise pocket closed. So, plenty of scope for some pretty cool armies, and some very cool tables. Bede has been a consitently fantastic terrain maker, and especially as a provider of pieces for a tournament, so from the "prettyness of the table" aspect, I am pretty excited.

As to my list? I am running US 2nd Armoured Division "Hell on Wheels". I am putting all of my eggs into this guys basket...

General William Tecumseh Sherman, famous general of the Union in the Civil War, especially famous for his "scorced earth" tactics against the Confederacy. So to carry on his legacy, I am bringing along a whole heap of his namesakes!

To break it down further...

Company HQ- 2 M4A1 Sherman Tanks, one with a bulldozer blade (because it looks cool)

Tank Platoon- 5 M4A1 (76mm) Sherman tanks. You can see the "Speed Numbers" on the side (this platoon is D-11 through D-15) representing company, tank platoon and tank numbers. I chose Dog company naturally (get it?). I also wrote them in white (some were white, some yellow) because I could only get my hands on a white pen!

Tank Platoon- 4 M4A1 (75mm) Sherman tanks.

Armoured Mortar Platoon- 2 M4 81mm Mortar Carriers with AA .50 cal MGs, and a command M3 halftrack. In front of them is their dismounts.

Recon Platoon- Full Strength, Bazooka Team and a 37mm gun on the M2 Halftrack

Armoured Rifle Platoon- Full Strength, all M3 Halftracks with 50 cal MG

Corps Field Artillery Battery- 4 105mm guns. These guys are sadly trained (the rest of the force is vet) but will hopefully make up for their rating by bringing in the Freedom Rounds on those dirty Nazis.

And last but not least, I have my two objectives. A wrecked M5 Stuart light tank, and my scratchbuilt Caterpillar D7 bulldozer. The bulldozer has been with this American army for a long time, I consider it a good luck charm now!


There is an extra side competition in the tournament, that is to claim scalps (head here if you dont get it), which can be done by destroying a German infantry or man packed gun team in assault! So, from now on these will be called "Patton Points", because heck, if i am assaulting Germans, I am probably following the orders of Patton! I will just have to make sure I achieve the mission, otherwise I will be in for a serious dressing down and loss of rank from the General!

So, tournament starts on Saturday, I will have an update about it on Monday. For those who read this blog for Dystopian Wars, there are new projects on the way. For those who started reading for Napoleonics stuff; sorry there has not been much lately! I will rectify that soon, promise.

Anyway, time to pack.
CP