My Balrog, the Durin's Bane

    The moment I saw this cheap plastic dragon on a shelf in a toy store, I said to myself "This can be a Balrog! The ancient enemy of the dwarves!". So I bought it for my Lord of the Rings miniature collection without a second thought. 

   Balrog, the Durin's Bane! 

The toy dragon

   I glued the miniature on a 60mm base where I added a round shield, a dwarf helmet, a sword in its scabbard and an axe. I also glued some little rocks on the base.

Balrog vs a brave Knight of Minas Tirith 

   The other day we were invited in a good friend's house. In his yard he has a "parasia" where he fries potatoes and not only. Whatever he cooks on it, is delicious! 

Parasia

   "Parasia" was for many years the traditional way of cooking in many villages of Crete. Nowadays they are very rare. 

   That's it for today! Stay tuned for more!

Boats, Kriegsmarine and Greek New Year's cake

    There are scenarios in Bolt Action campaign books where it is neccessary to have some boats available in case your troops are forced to cross a river. 

Black Death onboard

   For this reason I used foamboard and balsa wood to made six little boats. They are proper for tabletop games because their hull is flat. 

Boats under construction

Ready to sail!

   Two weeks ago I posted three photos of my Kriegsmarine. I understand that it is not fair to post a number of photos for every Red Army post and only three for these guys. So I decided to post some more photos of my squad.

Kriegsmarine squad

The NCO

The LMG 

   The other day we played another Bolt Action battle. This time we picked the scenario  "The opposed crossing of the Don River" from Stalingrad campaign book of Warlord Games. The Soviets had to cross the river while the Germans were pursuing them.

The battlefield

Soviets next to the Don river

The Don river is a piece of blue fabric.

The Panzer hit the T-34

   One more time Antonios was victorious. His Germans managed to cut the way out and prevented the crossing of Don. So my Soviets lost.

   Here in Greece, we have a tradition on new year's day, the Vasilopita (Greek New Year's cake). We gather together, the whole family and our loved ones, to cut this cake, which has a lucky coin in it. The one who finds the coin in their piece of the cake has luck for the rest of the year. This year my youngest daughter Margarita found the coin! 

Καλή χρονιά! = Happy New Year!

   That's it for today! Stay tuned for more!

Happy New Year! A Bolt Action battle and wishes for the day!

   Happy New Year!

   The other day I found some photos of a battle we played at my friend Kostas' house. Kostas played with his Germans and tried to defend a Normandy village against his son and me, who played the Americans. It was a well-balanced  battle, which we really enjoyed!     

The terrain

A German 88mm Flak gun

   The thread runs diagonally the battlefield and separates the Germans' deployment zone from the Americans'.

The US reserves

The German reserves

The 88 dominated the battlefield

In the battle havoc we forgοt to remove the thread!

   Anyway, the Germans managed to defend the village and the Americans had to retreat.

   These days I read the Bolt Action V3 book. There are some differences form the previous edition. Ιn partcular, the army building is different. Therefore, I have to adapt my Soviet units to meet the new version rules. It is good that I have some soldier miniatures still in sprues.

   It is also a good opportunity to finish painting my last three Soviet tanks! A new year's plan!

   Speaking of new year, I wish all of you a very happy new year, full of love, good health, joy, success, cheerful friends and suportive spouses!

Let everyone have more sixes than aces!

   My supportive wife in front of the game store "L' Oeuf Cube" during her trip in Paris buying - whatelse - a box of miniatures for me! 

   That's all for today! Stay tuned for more!

Kriegsmarine and Leipzig

    This is the last post of 2024, but with the new Bolt Action book "Armies of Germany" around the corner, it is a post of my first Bolt Action German unit, the Kriegsmarine.

The Kriegsmarine unit

   The Kriegsmarine was involved in the first battle of WW2 and in its last. They fought from the battle of Westerplatte in September 1939 during the invasion in Poland till the last days of the war in the battle of Berlin in May 1945.

The NCO and four sailors

The LMG and the last three sailors.

   Leipzig is a very beautiful city of Saxony in Germany. One of the monuments of the city is the "Monument to the Battle of the Nations", which commemorates the defeat of Napoleon's French Army by the coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden in October 1813.

My wife

The museum

and a lovely cafe nearby.

   That's it for today! Stay tuned for more!