New Blood?

 My grandson, Ben, came to stay for the weekend and he wanted me to show him an example of a wargame.  I set up a small game based in WW2 using adapted Memoir '44 rules.  The game was based on a German attack to secure a river crossing and an iron works being held by Soviet forces.  

The objective. German tanks have already crossed the river further upstream in a picture taken towards the end of the game:

I played the Germans and began my attack in true blitzkrieg style, with a massive armoured assault, supported by Stuka dive bombers and artillery:

Massed German armour pushing up the left flank is visited by a pair of Soviet Sturmoviks, causing some damage:

At the same time I push some tanks across the river using a ford up on the right flank:

On the left, a well defended hill, with tanks and anti-tank artillery proves to be a hard nut to crack:

In a counter stroke, Soviet armour advances up the right flank, supported by a well sited anti-tank gun:

The Germans take out many of the Soviet tanks but casualties are mounting and the headlong charge is proving to be very costly, with damaged tanks being pushed back or destroyed:

German artillery helps take out the Soviet guns, but are soon out of range of the deeper targets:

As in real war, the rapid advance of the tanks soon outstrips the slower infantry; the tanks attack slows down as casualties mount.  With well over half of the German tanks out of action and only a few infantry units available the germans call off the attack.  The battered Soviets retain control of the road bridge and the Ironworks.

Importantly Ben really enjoyed the game and is considering getting some tanks and figures for himself.  A new recruit perhaps!

More 54mm Japanese..........

 Last night I finished the remaining Japanese infantry, mainly heavy weapons.  There is a light mortar and light machine gun, both by Airfix; also a heavy machine gun.  Two more Airfix charging infantry finish off this batch.

I am not too sure where the heavy machine gun came from, possibly BMC, but I may be wrong.

I have now emptied my toy box of Airfix Japanese and Australians.  I would like to do a few more, so keeping my eye open for some bargains on line.

Punic War Italians

 Last night I finished off the other half of the box of HaT Italian infantry.  

I also managed to acquire two boxes of Italeri Republican Roman infantry, which when painted will complete my Roman army.  They are in the process of being cleaned up and primed for painting.

Australian Infantry 54mm

 Continuing my experiments with WW2 figures and Speed Paints, I have just completed some Airfix Australian infantry.  Getting the green shade was a challenge but I finished up with a 2:1 ratio mix of 'Holy White' and 'Camo Green'.  The white is actually a light grey.  The webbing is 'Pallid Bone'.

The figures were quite clean with good definition and nice detail.

These were the only Australians that I have, so I am missing a couple of poses, including a Bren gunner figure.

Experimenting with Speed Paints

 Most of my painting using Speed paints has been on figures of a more colourful nature.  I thought it might be fun to try the techniques on some WW2 figures.

Choosing the right colours was an interesting exercise, as the paints seem to be tailored towards the fantasy world, with 'Goblin Skin', 'Slaughter Red' and 'Palid Bone' being examples.  However, it is possible to mix the paints and to thin them down to make lighter tones.

As an experiment, I primed and based some 54mm Airfix Japanese and a single Britains 8th Army figure. Here are the results:

I am going to paint some more Japanese and some Airfix Australians.  I have in mind a Jungle based skirmish game.

The Story So Far............

 I thought that I would set out on the table my collection of Roman/Carthaginian figures as they would be for a Command and Colors game.  Just about enough for a number of the scenarios:

With just a few more figures to go I am almost ready for the first game.

Punic Wars Italian Cavalry

 Coming to the end of the production line now.  This latest batch are HaT 1/32 scale aliied Italian cavalry.  

They were a joy to paint using a mix of Speed and Acrylic paints:

I shall soon be in a position to display the two complete armies with a Command Colors Ancient wargame.