Militia & Technicals Part Deux

 

Not only technicals, but the two Company's of militia to go with my Somalian regulars too.

First off are the Toyota conversions. Both have the rear gate dropped down, as Martin of Peter Pig suggested this was a common sight. In addition, the gate in the down position, I ordered some spare wheels from him and added those against the outside rear wall of the cab. 

I've seen this in pictures, and I liked the look. 

Finally, for the right hand pick up, I added double wheels at the back, and sculpted wide wheel arches for it. This might be a bit too technical for an African Technical, but it is a common conversion when you want to put large payloads in the back of your pick-up, or pull loads. 

If I'm lucky someone may send me a link to a picture of something similar?

The Mercedes is for the Taxi I need for my Blackhawk down scenario, and as you can see I've not only primed it and the Technicals, but dry-brushed them ready for the main body colours to be applied.

One of the Technical's is going to be painted grey with red doors, while the other is going to have a three colour small round splodges scheme applied. The taxi will be blue and white? Not sure, might go for silver?

Above is the mostly fully organized first company of militia, though I'm missing two RPGs and one general AK47 armed infantry stands to complete the unit. 

I've bought all the figures for the above units, but have not as yet had time to sort them out, clean them up, base, texture and prime. I plan on just getting the 1st Company complete and start painting that, and catch up later with the 2nd Company in due course.

I also bought another two Peter Pig Toyota's at Salute to use as the basis for an extended crew cab version. The spare parts will go into making a cow drawn rear half, based on a photos I have of such a vehicle in Africa.

After that I have two Gaz jeeps for recoiless rocket launcher technical's. Once I get all that lot done then I can start painting on the USMC Company I have.

Republic of the Sphere

  

As I said, when I first started buying MechWarrior: Dark Age/Age of Destruction miniatures, my only interest was in gaining enough infantry and battle-armour figures to fill my needs for BattleTech. In the process I acquired a small Republic of the Sphere force, which you can see below. After reading some of the tie in novels I've come to appreciate the RotS and after playing a game of MechWarrior clix I've come to really appreciate the game mechanisms, which make for a quick fun filled game.

The big thing about BattleTech and the MechWarrior universe is the richness of the background. Up until quite recently I was very much an Old School Retread, having started with the game back in dawn of time. Measured as 25 years of my life having passed by. A long time indeed. Back then it was the end of the 3rd Succession War and the beginning of the 4th, which of itself was quite a big shake up from a post apocalypse Mad Max universe, to one where new battlemechs were being produced and large wars became a possibility. However, the invasion of the Clans was for me a step too far. Twenty years later the Clans are integrated much better into the universe and the game.

After the Clans came other stuff, like the FedCom Civil war. I like civil wars as a background for generating conflicts, because it allows for factionalism and politics. I missed most of the fun though, since I had fallen by the wayside and only came back for the Jihad. A name to strike fear into one, and certainly an apt description for a game of conflict. I love the way that the über weapons that the Word of Blake have such appalling consequences, which seems to me to make for a balance of sorts, but the promise to return to the roots of BattleTech in a future Dark Age really intrigued me.

At the beginning of the Dark Age we have a universe which has been Balkanised by the previous century of warfare. I especially liked the setting for the game in the impending breakup of the Republic of the Sphere. The premise being that after a number of years of peace and prosperity the interstellar communication network goes down, which reduces everyone to only being able to communicate at the speed of the jumpships. Law and order breaks down as a result of fear and opportunism.

The RotS is split into 10 districts called Prefectures, which were formed of planets that had been seceded at the end of the Jihad by the major powers of the Inner Sphere. This means that each prefecture has a mix of their former factions citizens who do not necessarily think that being ruled by the RotS is a good thing. These groups form factions that are effectively in revolt as they take advantage of the loss of centralised control. A very clever way of setting up conflicts in the game universe.

So we get to see the introduction of proxy forces like the Dragon's Fury, the Storm Hammers, and the Swordsworn, which represent House Kurita, Steiner & Davion interests in the RotS. In addition, we have Bannson's Raiders, a mercenary unit funded by a wealthy RotS magnate, and some Clans too (Steel Wolves & Spirit Cats). Finally, we have the Highlanders who are a RotS faction in their own right, but loyal to the RotS. Really, what more can you ask for when setting out to fight games in a time of war? You have reasons for fighting, opportunities to fight, factions to fight with and for me this really works.

I understand that a lot of the old time BattleTech fans rather disliked the abandonment of the classical House politics they were use to, but for me this future was fresh, and allowed new players to get in on the action without feeling that they needed to know 20 years of in universe history. Of course now, with the closure of WhizKids, MechWarrior has been left high and dry, but I'm a firm believer that it is the players who make the games live, not the the publishers. So long live MechWarrior: Age of Destruction.
   

Mud and Blood WW1 WIP 2

   

Like most well laid plans of mice and men, my intention to use my booked annual leave to paint some of the projects that have been waiting for me to get stuck into finishing them off, didn't go according to plan. However I am still able to show some progress on the remainder of the figures I have to paint to mostly finish my Pendraken WW1 British infantry Company.

In support I plan to have an HMG section, a battery of field artillery, and some mortars. The figures in front of the beginnings of the support forces are the individually mounted "Big Men" required for TFLs Through the Mud & the Blood rules.

As I mentioned before I also have some MkV tanks and some additional assets to add to the as yet unstarted French Company I've bought. Being the butterfly that I am I tend to flit from one shiney project to another, but OTOH I do enjoy what I end up doing.
   

Northwind Highlanders

  

Here is a selection of the largest of the three MechWarrior: Dark Age/Age of Darkness forces that I acquired when buying infantry and battle-armour figures for my BattleTech support regiment.

I actually now have quite a few more since I took the above picture, as quite frankly buying MechWarrior Booster packs is, I imagine, a little bit psychologically like taking crack cocaine. You get the rush of the hit and then afterwards you want another hit again.

As those of you who have been following this blog know, I only bought a load of MechWarrior infantry figures so I could make up squads of infantry for playing BattleTech. Little did I know then that I'd get bitten by the bug that is MechWarrior frenzy, and I've just played my first ever MechWarrior Dark Age clix game this weekend. Clive and I set up a training game with 200 points per side. We each had a battlemech, two vehicles and three stands of infantry. Including reading the rule book through from cover to cover, It took us a couple of hours to play the game from set up to finish. By the end of the game I had got my head around the order that the stats were on the dial, after initially confusing myself with the order that the damage and attack values were placed on the dial.

The combat dial is a fabulous idea, because the information density is high, while paperwork is low. However, MechWarrior is not BattleTech, well no surprise there as one is spelt MechWarrior, and the other BattleTech. Seriously though, MechWarrior is actually a Command & Control game, whereas BattleTech is a game of battlemech dueling. When I get around to playing BattleForce Quick Strike I will be able to compare all three systems and feedback here what I like. So to sum up. MechWarrior has some really interesting game mechanics, and a nice balance of play from the game mechanisms. I'm really looking forward to playing another game sooner, rather than later, and I'm even more motivated to buy stuff.
   

North American Combine Vehicles

The vehicles that make up this force were originally painted as dual purpose wargame miniatures, as I've always intended to use them both for games of BattleTech and OGRE/GEV. Let me talk you through them. 

First off is Alpha Company, which is pure Ral-Partha BattleTech goodness tasked up as a Combine armour Company. They made up with models from  the second issue of the Vedettes and the Demolisher tank.  

Then there is Charlie Company, there is no Bravo at the moment, with up of light tanks I made by simply putting a 1/300th Merkava turret on the chassis of a Bradley IFV, both from the Heroic & Ros range.  

Golf Company has the early version of the Striker armoured car from BattleDroids, with Hunter missile tanks at the back.  

Finally, there is Hotel Company, which is hover tanks. The command vehicle for this is a Stan Johansen conversion of the U.S. Army Combat Hovercraft "SK5" Gun Boat, or PACV.  

NB: Originally I labelled these, and this post as a 7th Demi Brigade Légion Etrangère unit, but I've decided that as they are in the colours of my North American Combine force that I use for OGRE/GEV, it would be easier to just relabel them.  Of course since this original post and the re-issue of the miniatures by SJG and my working as an MiB I've stripped all these down and plan to use them for another project. 

PS: Since posting, and therefore adding to the confusion, I've renamed this force 7ème Brigade Blindée, just in case you're reading this and are confused by the names I'm using for my Pan European force

Toyota Technicals

Where ever there are Somali fighters they inevitably have Toyota Technicals in support.

It's not Toyota unless it says Toyota on the back. I wonder if Toyota have a military sales division? Both models are inspired by pictures on the web of what is an ubiquitous field expedient modification of local transport assets.

Salute 2010: ExCel Centre

I'm a long time attended of the Salute show I remember it when it was at Kensington, but think the last time I went to a Salute was in 2004 at Olympia, so it has been quite a while since I've been to what is arguably the premier wargame show in Britain. Since I last went, it has moved again to the Excel Centre in the Docklands.

I had intended to go last year, but was too ill to cope with the travel, and I think the previous year the Docklands light railway was offline, so I passed on going because of the travel time. Yesterday though, the trains were working, the sun was shining, and it was a beautiful day. 

I got there at 09.30, having risen at my usual sparrow fart time that would indicate it was a work day. 

I'm not a morning person at the best of times, and going to a show probably is the best of times. Luckily one can nap on the tube. Anyway, got there and the early queue was winding itself into another hallway, and was paralleled by an almost equally long queue of people who had not bought cheap early bird tickets. 

There was a delay due to the fire marshal not clearing the hall as safe, but the Salute crew were on the ball handing out the goody bags and pre-stamping the tickets and the backs of our hands. I commented that this would be a good way to infect everybody with experiment viruses, if one were so inclined that is. 

Got in the hall, having had a jelly baby off a Chris Tennant Dr. Who look-a-like, see a Darth Vader wheezing along with three doughty Storm Troopers in tow, and passed three members of an StarGate team, which included a woman who had made a sterling effort to look like Sam Carter. Well done to Vikings, WW1 Germans, the WW2 British and any other re-enactors at the show, and any I didn't see for all the effort you put in to entertain me. 

I then commenced Operation Buying Frenzy, as I had a little list. 

 Peter Pig was visited for a pair of Toyota technicals for conversion (watch this space as they say), a pair of Gaz 469 jeeps (that I will mount recoilless rifles on), and a pair of Unimogs (one with a tilt, the other open) all for my Somalian AK47R project that I'm making, which was my third largest purchase of the day at Peter Pig.  

I also stopped at Dom's Decals and bought some German turret decals in both 10 & 15mm for my mechs, and also bought three aircraft from him too. Nice to meet him very briefly and put a name to a face, though I don't think he will remember me, given how busy it was. After this I passed a stand that had the Wings of War Balloon Busters with nearly £10.00 off, so I bought one, which was my second most expensive purchase of the day. 

Then I found Pendraken and picked up my pre-order, which was my biggest single spend of the day. Two Spanish Civil War starter armies (Republican & Nationalist) with a full German & Italian armour contigent with various assorted sundry items, and three hot out the casting machine MkVs tanks for my World War One project. 

I was a happy girl, if a bit poorer. 

Then it was mooching around for bargains, and on the Gamers shop stand I found some MechWarrior goodies. I bought the Ares Class three mech box set for £10.00, and the Poseidon Ares for £7.00, which I though was a bargain. I also found at Leisure Games shop stand some MechWarrior booster packs marked at £2.00 a pop, so I thought I'd buy five. When I came to pay the guy said they were on a special show offer of buy five and get three free. After counting out 16 booster packs, there were only 7 left and he did me a deal of the remainder for £4.00. 

Score, or what? (when I got home, opening them and sorting them out kept me occupied for five hours, which is cheap for the entertainment really).

After this the frenzy I met up with Trevor and his son Oliver, around 11.30. They got to Salute late, due to travel difficulties. I then showed Oliver my cache and told him and his dad that the stand still had some more MechWarrior Poseidon Ares mechs left. So we went over and bought the last remaining two he had, and the nice man behind the stand smiled at us. Trevor and Oliver have played a game of MechWarrior and both father and son seem to be enjoying themselves. 

Trevor and I then went to have a coffee and a snack as it was lunchtime. Oliver meanwhile was frothing like a good one, over all the things to see at the show. 

However, it was nice to sit down and chat and while we were drinking our coffee and having a snack, Dov Rigal, another long time old friend of mine turned up, with his son Sam. So, we had a good natter about stuff. After a suitable time and feeling more refreshed we went back into the show. 

We then spent the rest of the afternoon mooching for stuff, and Oliver bought a Monsterpocalypse starter set at half price. We then got him and his dad into a participation game of zombies and power armour trooper running through an underground complex, which they both enjoyed. 

Meanwhile I perused the show and saw some great looking games. I especially like the C. J. Cherryh Merchanter/Union universe space game with scratchbuilt models as per the book descriptions. So good I bought a set of the home made rules for a pound. 

I also like the two Dr. Who miniature games that were being run, and which were both grossly over subscribed with children of all ages being turned away. Bought the starter rules they had for the games too for £3.00. 

I also bumped into a few old friends, but not Martin B. who had emailed me to late to let me know he was down from up North, and talked to Laurie from the South East Essex Military Society, which I used to be a member of many, many years ago. 

So, I had a really nice time and was totally revved up from the day, even if at the end of it my feet were killing me, and I felt totally exhausted. However, sitting at home and opening 21 boxes of MechWarrior boosters, while drinking wine and chatting to friends was most relaxing, especially as they only cost 66p per box.

Somali Regulars

I've been meaning to post something more about my progress with creating my first AK47 Republic rules army. It has just taken me a whole lot longer to get anything painted to my satisfaction, and I've not yet played anyone, because I don't have enough figures, even using proxy figures, to run a game.

Okay, perhaps I have enough proxy figures if I use all my Traveller and Dalek figures, but that doesn't quite float my boat. Call me a pedant!

Cruel enlargement.

The AK47R rule-set has some interesting mechanisms, including the use of reserves, which you don't often see in games.

What you might not at first notice is that the basing is not the standard AK47R base size. When I was going through the rules and the base sizes, I thought that the abstraction inherent within the basing assumptions were too extreme for what I wanted from a miniature wargame. So I experimented a bit with the frontage and decided that five figures on 40mm wide by 30mm deep looked good.

I also imagined that rather than representing a platoon, the base in my game would represent squads, or section. I imagine YMMV on this, especially if you are an ardent Peter Pig fan, or the writer of the rules?

Cruel enlargement.

Their are some differences between the two platoons that the picture doesn't show. The first platoon jackets are painted brown, while the second are painted khaki. It was by the way of an experiment to test whether or not one can tell the difference, and which one looked best.

The answer is they both look good and the difference is very minor. I'm now working on the militia platoons, which will be shown in due course, so Martin B, you can rest assured knowing that I have been working towards getting enough together to invite you down for a game.

House Steiner Über Alles: Updated Photos

My House Steiner mechs are the third Company I've painted up forBattleTech games. like my Pink Panthers, the mechs are mostly drawn from Fang of the Sun Dougram.

First up is an old school unseen Goliath assault mech, which was called Abitate F44A Crab Gunner in Dougram. This model is pretty much as it comes out of the packet, with just the usual clean up to get it ready for painting. Some people don't like the look of the Goliaths, and it is certainly true that quadraped mechs get very little love in BattleTech.

Next up is another Goliath, this one has however been extensively reposed. I've not seen any other reposed Goliaths around, which doesn't mean a lot in the bigger scheme of things. but probably goes to show the lack of love for this "tanks on legs". I have plans for another Goliath conversion in due course, which will be based on the Abitate F44B Tequila Gunner.

Finally, a Scorpion medium mech, which has had its legs reposed as the original model makes for quite a static look, and to me a bit stilted. Again this mech come from the Dougram show where it was called the Abitate F35C Blizzard Gunner.

I plan to add, at some indefinite point in the future Abitate F44D Desert Gunner, but have yet to make my mind up whether or not to kitbash one using parts from Goliath and Scorpion models, or converting a plastic Gashapon that I have?

Mud and Blood WW1 WIP

   

It has been a while since I posted anything about my Pendraken 10mm WW1 figures.Truth be told they are slowly traversing the log jam that is the painting schedule on the Paint-it-Pink workbench. 

I have this tendency to get caught up by the latest shiny thing that catches my eye, and therefore wander from one thing to another in a haphazard sort of way. However, it at least keeps my interest in painting and model making fresh.

I've managed to prime more of themsince I took this photo, and even started drybrushing the base colours too. 

The tanks need to have their barrels replaced, as I find them a bit too easy to bend, which has slowed me down on getting them painted. I also intend to paint one Whippet and MkIV in German colours.