Painted things and another Tournament

Greetings from the far off land of allergies and drought.

What's painted to date, not including the Heavy Mortar Squad pictured way below.

Last weekend was a 2000 point Tracks and Turrets tournament at the local Gaming con, ConQuestSac. I took a list from the Market Garden source book, British 11th Armoured - 1ic & 2ic Shermans, 3 platoons of 2 Shermans/2 Fireflys, full platoon of M10 17pdrs, a Sherman ARV and Limited Air Support.

Over all, I had a really fun day, though only won one of my three games. Here's a swift round up.

Round One had me up against Brad and a bloody horrible list with 6 Konigstigers and some AA vehicles that didn't come into play. Of course there were delayed and scattered reserves (No roll for reserves until turn 3 and on a random place on my table edge!!!) involved, so only half our forces were able to start on the table, the other half being rolled for later on. Seeing as he only had two platoons, he stuck his 1ic & 2ic Konigstigers and his platoon of.... 4 more Konigstigers (KT for short.), leaving his AA guns in reserve. I chose to place two of the Sherman platoons down and kept the third and the M10 platoon in reserve. If you haven't already guessed or are clueless as to what this situation is, I started the game facing 1800 of Brad's 2000 with only 850 points worth of my own. Trouble from the start.
He camped his 1ic and 2ic on his objective and had his platoon in position to move toward the objective in my deployment zone. I figured I'd only have a chance at all versus his 40" range and armour 15 front tanks, if I ignored the platoon of KT's and rush my whole starting force (10 tin can Shermans and fireflys) at his defended objective, hoping that come turn 3, I'd be lucky enough to have taken his objective and roll for one single platoon to come contest versus his KT platoon. Funnily enough, my rush of wee tanks rushed through and killed off his 1ic and 2ic and holding the objective. Unfortunately, what happened next was a fine example of Piss Poor Planning/Preparation on my part and I totally shot my self in the foot, losing the game.
I rolled on turn three to get a reserve platoon and lucky day of all luck days I got one! So i grab my M10's with their big Tiger killing guns hoping to shoot his big cats off the objective and look to see where they deploy. Okay, 1-2 was rolled, so my bottom left corner, not perfect, but hopefully I can maneuver well enough to get the job done. Here's where it went wrong - neither of us could figure out just how big the deployment zone was and saw mistakenly 8" from the corner. So sadly, I couldn't get close enough to the objective to contest and I was only able to kill two KT's, losing the game. Deal was, reserves actually come in on 16" from the corner..... *facepalm* O well, lesson learned. So this was a sad 1-6. (O and my planes did bugger all through the game.... You'll see a pattern here.)

Round Two was a fateful showdown versus my Flames of War mentor, Eric Riha (Often mentioned on the wwpd.net podcast.) and his American Patton list. This game was over before it started. My dice were abysmal and Patton's Spearhead moves (Everything in his line of sight get's a pre-1st turn move, like a recce team = shenanigans) had Eric's tank platoons in my grill almost turn one. By the time I was able to roll for reserves (Again on turn 3 - damn you delayed reserves!!!!), I had already lost enough in my army and was forced to have to roll (And fail) a Company Morale test and the game was done. Another 1-6, but at least this time it was both against a far superior player than I and not due to my own lack of preparation.

Round Three saw me going in tied for last place in the rankings. Seriously?! *sighs* I was to face a very fun chap called Joe, who gave me my first taste of Russian Heavy armour. (Thirteen IS-2's I think.) Funny thing is, This was my first and only game all day where I got to be the attacker, so (finally) I got to start with ALL of my platoons on the pitch! Hoo-rah!
The 1st turn saw me move all of my Shermans and M10's in and line up in wheat fields so that I got to take 10 17pdr (AT15) shots at his ugly Soviet armour. Now, odds are that this should have taken out at least 4 of the 7 tanks camped on his objective, but per the rest of the tourney, Lady Luck had other ideas. Boom and bang went all those lovely armour cracking guns and when the smoke cleared..... I'd managed to bail just one. That's it. Conceivably I could have won the game in my turn one, o well. The rest of the game though did see my fortunes turn around somewhat for the better though and using the far better maneuverability of my own tanks versus his slow heavies, I managed to both keep his reserves at bay and keep the objective for a 4-3 win.

All in all, the tourney was super fun, if frustrating and I got to watch a lot of super cool games with a LOT of wonderfully painted heavy armour forces after my own 1st and 2nd games finished so abruptly. :) I did learn though, that armoured companies are not my thing - much prefer to play my Poor Bloody Infantry! Next tourney I plan to attend is in June, a Mid War affair and I think I'll be bringing some Kiwis from the Italy lists. Lots and lots of stuff to bog Nazi armour down with.

This is my Hawker Typhoon, fully painted with markings and all. I'm too cheap to buy decals tho, so I freehanded the markings instead. The "F" is taken from the Battlefront "How to Paint a Typhoon" webpage, the DE... well, are my initials. :)

All of my Shermans are painted now. Just need to add weathering and markings, but for tabletop play, they are good enough.


 

Since my original tournament in February, I've managed to get my good mate Densmol interested in Flames of War. He's a big Nazi Tigers fan and so has amassed an impressive collection of heavy Nazi armour in a short amount of time. He went to the above written about tourney as well (His 1st) and almost took the 1st prize! It's good to finally have a mate who's into miniature gaming and that is as enthusiastic as I am, and also who's up for playing on a regular basis too.
We got a game in last night where he played his same list he took to the tournament versus a Canadian infantry company I hastily put together - 2000 points. I won, though it was touch and go for a bit there. Here's some pics:

My boys camped the Nazi objective on the hill early on. Stupid Sherman's hid in the woods bottom right almost the whole game....
 

On the other end of the table, Otto Carius and his best pal burnt to a cinder as my M10's, Infantry and WASP carriers advanced on the other Nazi objective. Please note the scary Elefant heavy assault guns! o_0

Right before I managed to contest his objective right side of the pic and rush my WASPS to camp my own in the mid right for the win.

This game gave me the opportunity to bring out and show off my completely finished 6pdr platoon;

and my newly touched up and rebased Heavy Mortar platoon, that were a horror when I bought them off of Ebay and now look decent enough for tabletop I think.

I'll close out with a few pics with different views of the Typhoon and latest painted Shermans. Cheers if you kept reading this far down! :)

*"Where's the 40K stuff gone?!" I hear you ask? Well, I've not forgotten, nor abandoned my other projects, merely set them aside to get myself enough painted Brits so I can play multiple lists in Flames of War. Watch this space though as I can feel the Grim Dark creative juices a-flowing!*

Reading You Loud and Clear, Over.

“Ludo is a former Tech Ganger from one Hive World or another that singed on to join the 108^th Expeditionary Fleet Corps. His knowledge of most things technology-based has helped him show that he is worth far more than a regular Guardsman. Commander Tholme, commanding officer of the 1^st Platoon, 1^st Battalion took note during a recent exercise against Kroot mercenaries as Ludo’s swift repair and well timed usage of his Vox Unit to bring in a timely airstrike and recommended that the trooper be awarded “Chosen Man” rank and stand as the Trader Prince’s personal Vox’man. From lowly Ganger to Company Command Squad, Ludo has risen far higher in station than he would ever have dreamt. Little does the youth realise, that he is the Trader’s 4^th Vox’man this year…”

So here's another ancient Confrontation fig that I bought as a child. This is his second paint job, far better than his goopy first. Started his skin as a light grey and used some red inks and lightened with flesh-tones to hopefully make him look like he's lead a life of one who had never seen an actual "sun" much less get tanned by a sun's rays.



Trying to show his family tatt....



Finishing Ludo marks my Company Command Squad as completed! Am well happy with the results - yes, maybe could have put in a little more work here and there, but they are far better looking than I was expecting. I think I caught the right feel with these lot to effect a Rogue Trader's mixed-bag retinue.

Click for bigger pic

The Trader and his advisors.

This time with his freaks.

Chosen Men protect their Lord.

Trader Brothers, tho they show no love for each other.

And as mentioned some posts back, I went and purchased four armoured cars from http://littlegreenmentoys.com/Tim-Mee-Tan-Armored-Car-02-0001.htm to convert some and have as my Chimeras for my armoured Infantry Platoon.

Original guns removed and I'll be shaving off all but on of those sculpted cables on the front to put my own stowage.

 Just a quick mock-up of a basic set up for how these will turn out. Many super huge thanks to Col. Scipio for his kind gift of some Multi-Lasers (and Autocannons - these for my Squat Trikes, Sentinals counts-as.) which with some plasticard will end up looking great I think. The heavy flamers on the hull will also get some green stuffing to end up looking like some WW2 canvas style coaxial effect mounting thingie. Lastly, you don't need to tell me, those wheels have GOT to go. (sister) I have already found some replacement beefy wheels from Secret Weapon Miniatures and will order maybe next month.

Think I'll lose the flag. heh.



The Science of Shouting

"I suppose describing a one-hundred and forty-seven year old man as being in the prime of his life would sound strange to most people. But they don't know Plutarco Etcheverria de Dios Otero Antormarchi. The man is a force of nature unto himself, driven with an energy pubescent boys can only dream of. What he dreams of, he plans out. What has been planned out (meticulously) he puts into action. What is already underway, he most certainly finishes and with an impressive efficiency.
Being the Lord Commander of the 104th Expeditionary Fleet on the outer reaches of the edges of Imperium Space, he has lead his fleet and ground forces to conquer and subjugate many lost planets and brought them into the Imperium's fold. He's Recovered mysterious Archiotec and discovered ancient Mechanicum devices long thought lost by the Adeptus mechanicus. All the while stamping his family crest upon new frontiers and profiting immensely from the proceeds - all in the name of the Imperium of Mankind."

Not great background as it was written rather swiftly at the end of my lunch break. i may go back and revise it some. This is my penultimate fig for a finished command squad and has me well excited. It's rare to finish a project, even though it's a small one.

I love the Creed sculpt. I think it's full of character and shows an Imperial Guard mob-boss looking leader. All he needs is a fedora and tommygun and he'd be ace! :)

Much like his younger brother (From my Inquisimunda Rogue Trader Crew - Antolio), he wears a sash, though coloured lime green as befits his own position as 4th son within their Trading house family.

Tried hard to get his cigar to look like it's actually lit with ash-line, etc.

On My Mark....

"Bombardier General Horatio Vanderbilt, as you can see, is a man who pays the most attention to detail. His precision orbital bombardments and long range artillery strikes have kept him in his position for the past fourteen years and he remains the longest serving Officer in the Trader Prince's Guard forces.
The Bombardier General wasn't always such an adherent to detail. Prior to his earning rank within the Bombardier branch, he was Specialist Vanderbilt in the then 2nd Company, 4th Platoon's Command squad. Toting his plasma gun, he had a reputation for recklessly laying about himself  regardless of friendly fire consequences, though, getting the job done nonetheless. That is, until the sack of the Spartanites of Planet 108.009.112, where after heating up his plasma coils one time too many, they burst and severely charred his face, chest and hands to the point where a total facial transplant was required to save his features and a severe skin graft from his hind quarters needed to replace lost skin on his hands. He also required a full ocular replacement procedure and still sports the glowing green emergency orbs implanted within him all those fourteen years ago.
The experience had taught the soldier a valuable lesson about recklessness and he quickly reformed his views on how to conduct war. Since his recovery, he has proven year after year that his attention to detail is worthwhile and required on the field of battle and his now rank of Bombardier General more than speaks volumes of the Rogue Trader's trust in the man and soldier Horatio has become."

(Okay, that was a bit longer than I had planned. :) )

Once again, my fickle "hobby sense" took over as I tried to work on some Raven Guard Space Marines and this figure grabbed me by the short and curlies. Next thing I knew, he was sat and ready for a spray of matt finish varnish. Note the white dress gloves he is known for wearing whilst out in public to hide the horrific scars from the plasma burns and expressionless face following the transplant.

All that's left of the Company Command Squad to complete is the Vox Caster and the Commander (Creed) himself. Yay!

A wee pic showing his digi-readout-wrist-thingie.

And a bit of a closeup to show his face and eyes.

 

 

O and..... Admiral Drax might be surprised to see these. A mate has had me join his gaming group. I am so weak.

 



Late War British Guard. I plan to make a Hell's Highway Parachute list from US and Brit units that I can use in the upcoming starter set.

Why So Serious?

"Captain Gulliver Bevingham-Nixon is the Trader Prince's ship's captain and advisor on most things star-faring based. Don't mistake his small profile for thinking the man is an easy target, he's more of a Jack Russel in temperament and his men tiptoe lightly about him about the ship for fear of igniting his temper. One of his favourite punishments (For just about any infraction, imagined or otherwise.) is to send the unlucky git down the Ship's massive Bilges with a half full Flamer and combat knife to clear out any unlucky Hrud that might be nesting about. "

This mini has sat half-painted for about a year in my painting queue. I finished him up last night. Before I knew it, he was done. I showed my wife and she laughed at my scheme, asking "Why So Serious?" in reference to the Joker from Batman: the Dark Knight. It hadn't even occurred to me that I had chosen colours to match the Joker until then. I had just thought it was a cool idea to give the mini green hair with some background describing nobles of his planet dye their hair for fashion, or some such.... *facepalm* O well, he stays as is and I tried to describe his personality as being somewhat volatile in a similar vein to the Joker.

I've also finished painting up the Trader Prince's "Chosen Men", Snipers for my Company Command Team. I frikken love these Cadian snipers sculpts- just the right amount of detail and great poses without being too much of a pain to paint up. (My first go at painting up camouflage too in a LONG time on those cloaks.) The gold trim (If you can see it.) on their cuff's denotes their elite status.

And a quick snap of the boys together looking all mean and snipey-like.

And a couple pics of the Company Command Squad completed pieces to date.

Below is a WIP pic of the Trader Prince himself  (LOVE that Creed model! Not bothered by his rules though, so he's just a Commander in effect.) and the Vox Trooper from his Command Squad - yet another old old old Confrontation Tech Ganger I had lying about from my earliest gaming days.

And the poor Master of Ordinance who is still stood about with nothing more than a base coat. (For now.)

 Also some cheeky WIP pics of three remaining Plague Marines for my 2nd squad with arms held on by the amazing spell-like powers of Blu-Tac. They've also been sat all base-coated and no-where to go, so I started a little on them. Still lots to do though before they are done.

Lastly, I worked some more on the Brother Captain Stern commission which is at around 30% done.(Don't know why getting through this one has been such a chore?). Though no picture for him, yet.

Bloody hell this post turned into a super silly long beast. I blame Col. Ackland's Rough Rider WIP post m'self. :P Apologies for the pics' lighting - have too much to get on with today and so the lightbox was not an option. So instead, natural lighting from the stairwell window had to suffice.