Konflikt 47 - British 12th Automation Company

British 12th Automation Company pushes through an abandoned German railway yard. The enemy fled at the mighty sight!

Rob's First Steps into Legion

Hi, Rob here again with another blog post. Today I'll be showing you my Star Wars : Legion force that I've just started. 

I've recently picked up some Star Wars Legion figures to paint up. I started with the E-Web Heavy Blaster and the picked up some Snow troopers and General Veers. Prior to painting these guys I painted a few test models, because I find painting white to be one of the most difficult things to do. Seriously, White Scars players, I salute you. I thought I'd pace myself with these miniatures but I ended up painting them up in one day, that's how much I enjoyed painting them!

Squad Leader

E-Web Heavy Blaster

General Veers

The Gang

I've never really been too sold on FFG minis, the X-wing models always looked a bit too much like the old Micro Machines, but these guys were a blast to paint. My only complaint would be the cloaks aren't quite as crisp in places as they could've been. Perhaps they should get some GW sculptors on the case, because if there's one thing GW know, it's how to sculpt a good cloak.

I've got some Speeder Bikes and another squad of Snow troopers on order to bring me up to a legal skirmish list and then after that, I don't know, perhaps an AT-ST and some Death troopers to seek and destroy rebel scum. Oh, and maybe an Imperial Officer in more appropriate winter wear!

T-80's for days!

Hello there! Rob here again with a little blog post about what I'm up to with my Team Yankee Soviet forces. 

Last year a few of us decided to get in to Team Yankee WW3, a game in which the Cold War has gone very hot indeed. Due to the lockdown I had plenty of time to paint a full force of Soviets and then during the brief period where we could meet up last year we got in as many games as we could. I loved it, I loved the setting, I liked the rules and I liked the way the missions were constructed. 

My Red Thunder Soviet forces.

The tail end of last year saw another lockdown and the release of the new Soviet book and so I've decided to do a t-80 Shock Company. These are the guys who received some real training rather than working on the collective farms during their conscription. They're harder to hit and and have better courage and morale than standard Soviet forces. However, this has a trade off, they are very expensive to field. In a 50 point game I can field 5 tanks in total with some SA-9 Gaskins for anti-air duty. In comparison, at 50 points in a t-64 battalion, I could have 10 t-64's with room to spare. Suddenly I know how Dale feels trying to fit his Challengers in a list!

I had bought the starter set when it was released because of the value (I love a bargain, call me David Dickinson!) and the fact that it had t-80's and BMP-3's in it. So I had the beginnings of the Shock Company in my possession already. How very convenient!

The mighty t-80's of the Soviet Army.

I'd basecoated the t-80's with Zandri dust and the used a Tamiya Olive Drab for the green. In hindsight I would have used a less yellow basecoat and instead gone for a more stony colour. Still, I'd done it and I had to make the most of it.

I used Seraphim Sepia wash on the Zandri Dust which, gave it a warmer tone. To make them look like they were in the thick of it I used the GW texture paint to make them look like they in the thick of it charging through the Fulda Gap. For highlighting, I used Vallejo Stone Grey to pick out the Kontakt armour blocks and GW Dawnstone to pick out the rubber skirts.

To mark out the Company HQ I added a tank commander sticking out of the cupola. For the team leader of the platoon, I added an antenna and gave the barrel a white tip just to make it easier to distinguish on the table top. I'd quickly discovered in previous games that an platoon commander is difficult to pick out at 15mm in a sea of army green.

Next on the pile is the SA-9 Gaskin platoon I've just built and the new Tunguska AA platform to build and paint.  After that I've got another t-80 platoon and some TOS-1's on the way so I can complete the force and take the fight to NATO.

Da svidania comrades!

Star Wars: Legion - Luke Skywalker

My second finished miniature of 2021 is none other than Commander Luke Skywalker for Fantasy Flight Games Star Wars: Legion.

Like my Rancor, I followed Sorastro's painting guide. I am really happy with the end result, although the clothing is a little darker than I would have liked. I'm not overly keen on my OSL (Object Source Lighting) of the Lightsabre on his face, but I can live with it.

His face took some time and even though I followed the guide, I still struggled. I plan to concor face and skin tones this year!

Seeing as this is the angle I will mostly be looking at on the tabletop, I'm pleased.

He looks pretty cool.

Here's a close up of the face. The eyes came out pretty good, this distracts you from the rest of the face lol.

As they say, it's all about faces and bases. I have based him to match the rest of my Rebels (Well, my only other finished Rebel mini, AT-RT), and my Imperials.

And here is is, facing off against a Rancor.

I hope you liked the post. Please like and share!

Happy Hobby Time Folks.

Star Wars Imperial Assault Rancor

So here it is, my first completed (not so) miniature of the year. My Star Wars: Imperial Assault - Rancor.

This was really fine to paint and I learnt a few different techniques along the way. I tried my best to follow Sorastro's painting guide found here.

I'm going to use it for custom mission in Star Wars: Legion too. I found a stat card in the Internet to use with it. Please comment who to credit if you know.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

Thanks for reading.

Solo Games For Lockdown

Hi all, with the latest announcement of lockdown III here in the UK, I thought I would let you all know my go to solo play games. These games have kept me sane since March 2020 and they should keep me going yet again! I hope...

So here are my favourite solo play games. I have listed them in order of out of the box play-ability. Some games require an APP or to download and print off content, rule and cards etc...

#1 - Core Space: 

Core Space is a science fiction miniatures board game for 1-6 players. Each player takes control of a band of Traders trying to make a living in a dangerous galaxy, all the while hunted by the Purge, a semi-sentient race of humanoid machines whose sole task is to harvest worlds. It can be played competitively or co-operatively, and missions can be linked with a detailed campaign system.

Core Space is amazing, it tick all the solo play requirements and you can get started straight out of the box. If you didn't know better, you would think it was designed for lockdown.

You can purchase this game in the UK from: www.incomgaming.co.uk

Rancor nearly done

I have made a little progress on the Star Wars: Imperial Assault Rancor. I've completed the highlights and given it a varnish to get rid of the shine the washes left.

I have started work on the base, this will look kind of like a swamp when I have finished. I've been following Sorastaros guide for this mini. His work is awesome!

A few things from my huge bits box has come in handy. I think it will be finished by next weekend.

Happy hobby time folks.

Tanks! Tanks! Tanks!

Hi there, my names Rob and I am a hobby-holic. I'd like to say a big thanks to Dale for letting me contribute to his wonderful blog. In these times of Covid-19 we're all finding it difficult to get around, game and socialise like we want to so this is a great way for us all to keep our hobbies alive. Now, onto the article.

Back in 2016 the game Tanks! appeared on the shelves. It's a small skirmish type game based on dice rolls and cards it uses little measuring sticks for movement and the weapons don't have specific ranges so there's no need to measure to see if you can hit your target. All tanks and crews have initiative values that affect when they move and shoot. It was a great little game that unfortunately never really caught on as a regular go to game at our local club. Nevertheless, the models (Battlefront plastics) were lovely and I think most of us bought the starter set including me. However, I then  went for the Soviets due to their access to cheap tanks and vodka cards and the original tanks sat in the starter box unloved.

Whilst rooting around the many boxes and drawers for models to divert attention away from my most recent project (Bolt Action Canadians) I remembered the Tanks! box with the M4A3 Sherman's and the Panther sitting in it, patiently awaiting attention.

I decided to paint the Panther first. Originally I'd wanted to paint a bizarre chevron pattern across this tank but having taken it out of the box I realised just how bad it would look and I went back to the drawing board. I like to think my painting has improved a little since 2016 but even now I don't think I could make such a pattern look half decent.

Using Tamiya spray cans and Blu-tac I created the beige and green pattern. Then, using a wet brush with a decent point I traced out the brown patches and filled them in. The tracks were painted with GW Abaddon Black. To bring out the highlights I used Vallejo Stone Grey and Vallejo Green Grey for line highlighting. A pin wash of GW Agrax Earthshade helped  to create definition on the panels without staining the colours. Finally, a little drybrush with Stone Grey to bring up the highlights on the armour and GW Eshin Grey for the track and Machine Gun before adding some decals. I stippled a very watered down Vallejo Flat Brown to the side skirts, tracks and road wheels to simulate the dirt and mud that would build up on the tank in the field. Voila, one finished Kitty.

Now, on to the ubiquitous M4A3 Sherman. The first one was a relatively simple affair, Vallejo US Dark Green basecoat, Agrax Earthshade pin wash and Stone Grey highlight. While I was happy with the result I couldn't help but feel that it was a little plain, those flat sides in particular look very barren. With the second Sherman I decided to add a few accessories, some stowage boxes (from West German and US Team Yankee kits) and tree trunks for extra armour on those big flat sides. The tree trunks were made with cotton buds chopped up and stuck on the side, simple. The painting was the same as the other Sherman, the tree trunks were painted Flat Brown and then drybrushed with GW Steel Legion Drab. The stowage boxes were painted with Vallejo Bronze Green and washed with GW Nuln Oil to break up the mass of green with some different shades.

I really enjoyed getting the set completed and maybe once life returns to normal we can get some interest going for this little gem of a game. After painting these little lads up I decided that the 15mm WW2 bug had sunk its teeth into me and I ordered the Flames of War 'Hit the Beach' starter set, so between that, the Judge Dredd starter set, the Canadian Bolt Action army, the Falangists for my SCW army, Napoleonic Prussians and the Union Army for Epic Battles American Civil War I'll be busy for the next few years at least!

Thanks for reading.

Regards,

Rob

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone... Time to get this blog into the swing of things and start continuous blogging (hopefully).