First AHPC 8 Submissions

Delighted to report that the lack of recent blogging indicates a wonderfully full start to the year - a visit to Melbourne to visit family and friends, attending the 5th Test of the Ashes Series at the Sydney Cricket Ground (for non Commonwealth types and Canucks that sporting event goes for 5 days), a game of Chain of Command and a Campaign of Battlegroup Barbarossa is also unerway!  More on the latter shortly.

In the meantime AHPC 8 is well underway and the submissions are flowing in.  I did get a chance to put pigment to a few bits and bobs and here are my first few entries:

First up, the start of a new project - a 28mm Friekorps Armoured Car (model by 1st Corps).
https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com.au/2018/01/from-paul-og-freikorps-panzerauto-and.html

An Austin Armoured Car Mk 2 fitted with two turreted maxim guns. A number of these British made machines were purchased by the Russian Army prior to WW1.  After the war they were used widely during the Russian Civil War but many were captured on the Eastern Front by the Germans and pressed into post-war service by the Friekorps. 

The model is from 1st Corps' WW1 vehicle range.  Resin body with metal fittings.  Curiously, there were no fixing points for the turrets to the chassis. Rather than glue them in place I magnetised them which helps with storage as well as being able to train them in action.

I drew inspiration from the period pics, including the skull and crossbones totems which were prolific

Alan gave me this kit as a Christmas present...last year...so its good to finally get it completed! Thanks for lending me the thematic background for the pics too mate.

This year I have been embracing the new AHOC terrain category, starting with this 6mm scale Castle to act as a Royalist Stronghold for our ECW gaming
http://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com.au/2017/12/from-paulog-fortified-royalist.html

This a resin model, manufacturer unknown, which I have based on mdf and sculpted the surrounds.  There was a bit of damage since I bought it (some 15 years ago!) so I added a bit of detritus to make it look recently attacked and damaged.  Finally, I used some Noch brand flock with flowers to add some colour to the greys.

And some 15mm Russian farmhouses for Battlegroup Blitzkrieg (by Mk IV Miniatures). More now under construction for my current Battlegroup Barbarossa campaign with Alan.

And for the first bonus round:
https://analogue-hobbies-theme-rounds.blogspot.com.au/2018/01/flight-from-paulog-one-man-dirigible.html

"Flight"this screw powered one man dirigible is a VSF delight to battle foes in the Back of Beyond, over the Red Planet or as some sort of diesel punk version of the Gyro Captain from Mad Max 2! I found this kit in the depths of the Man Cave where had lurked since purchase. The Flight bonus round gave me the impetus to give it the attention it so richly deserves

The model is a resin and metal casting from Tobsen Miniatures in Germany, who do some fantastically crazy and wacky stuff: https://shop.tobsen77.com/en/  He also sells the pilot figure. Maxim gun and the backpack/ammo pouches are from my spares box.

In the Bonus Round voting my dirigible was equal runner up to some amazing other submissions, which I am obviously thrilled with.
The Votes are in for the 'Flight' Bonus Round Theme!

So AHPC 8 is now 3 weeks down, these entries take me 150 points towards my target and I am ahead of the curve.  Admittedly, I have a more modest target of 500 points in comparison to my 1200 odd points for AHPC 7.  If I get there quickly I will bump it up appropriately.

The Battle of Sourpuss Plain: ECW battle with Baroque

My Royalist left Brigade deploys under the command of Sir Percival Utterly-Barkinge

Over the weekend gaming club buddy Aled walked me through my first game using the Baroque tules set, released last year by the authors of Impetus.  It was a great opportunity to thrown down for some long overdue 6mm ECW action.

Royalist Horse deploys on the right flank near the church of Our Lady of Perpetual Guilt

Overall, I found the mechanics easy to pick up (I had a good tutor!) but it took me awhile to get my head around the damage system.  Once I did, I realised how elegant they are - adding and subtracting combat dice is easy to do, but damage impact is non linear.  That is, it's how badly a unit fails a coherence test that matters - not the number of hits it takes.  But naturally, it's easier to fail badly when hit a number of times.  So like real life, some units kept taking punishment volley after volley, while others evaporated much more quickly.

Foote Brigades engaged on Sourpuss Plain

Royalist Foot anchor the line behind the stone walls of the cultivated fields and engage the Roundheads

I also found that the Cavalry engagements on the wings was fast, strong and decisive (possibly because I had all those lovely Cavalier gallopers).  The melee combat system is the same as firing, but charging home adds dice as an impetus bonus and catching an enemy on the flank is brutally effective.  On the other hand, the infantry brigades in the centre were slow and difficult to adjust once committed (as you would expect).

A palpable hit indeed! Take that Roundheads!

I also quite liked the Army morale system: once reduced to half strength a unit is exhausted and its VPs are removed from the Force Morale.  However, if it is eliminated then double its VPs are taken.  Thus, withdrawing spent units before they die (and having reserves available to take their place) is not only sensible but essential in keeping your Army together.  But being able to withdraw the unit is not a given either...

Cavalier gallopers sweep away the Parliament horse on the right flank and penetrate into the enemy rear 

I felt like I was a General commanding the battle, though not everything was going to go the way I had planned it and there were certainly points of friction occurring around me.  Overall, a really fun experience and I'm looking forward to my next game.

And here is the WI review of the rules:

https://www.wargamesillustrated.net/baroque-europe-at-war-1500-1700/

Parlimentarian Horse and Command bases

Look like I neglected to publish pics of these earlier this year when they were done by Alan.  Kindly permit me to correct that omission now:

Meanwhile, I am searching for something to use as a 6mm poodle so I can make my Prince Rupert stand with Boye at his side!



 

Fall-In: The Confession

Its been a few weeks so I can finally try and face up to my lack of restraint at Fall-In.
Plus SWMBO has gone out for a few hours so the coast is clear to take some pics...

"Mistakes were made"

To move through the stages of grief, I could offer rationalisations such as bargains, needs projects planned, past and future, the bad influence of an enthusiastic offspring and the fact that some of this horde arrived by mail and wasn't technically purchased at Fall-In.  Instead, lets just admit that mistakes were made and move onto the shiny.

You can never have enough trees and terrain can you?  I didn't think so either.  The Lad did amusedly note though, that I have perhaps bought more trees than figures in the last few years.  Each day at Fall-In he also teased me about going to go off to buy some more trees because we didn't have enough yet.  Cheeky bugger!

Lovely 15mm terrain for Battlegroup Kursk - by Mark IV Miniatures: http://markivminiatures.com

More Mark IV Miniatures, this time for Fall of the Reich.  These are for the Dux actually! The damaged Cathedral (lower left) is rather spectacular.

6mm terrain for our ECW Project by Monday Knight Productions http://www.mondayknight.com
The big fields are very nice too - they are by Battlefield Terrain Concepts  http://battlefieldterrain.com

Goodies for Flint and Feather, and Muskets and Tomahawks -  British Wilderness Force, 3 packs of the beautiful F&F minis, an Indian long house and a frontier log cabin.  Plus the M&T rulebook and activation cards.

Pulp Figures.  The Lad said he needed Hooded Minions.  Who was I to argue with such logic? Plus if you bought 5 packs, you got a 6th one for free.

More obscure: LAF Post Apoc Russians.  Yep.  But has you seen what Curt did with these minis?
http://analogue-hobbies.blogspot.com/2014/01/from-curt-28mm-post-apocalyptic-neo.html
C'mon, I'm only human!

These goodies, I am delighted to say, were raffle prizes from attending the WWPD podcast - thanks lads!  The MK IVs will be built as early models for service in North Africa.  No plan for the Comets at this stage though

And while I'm confessing, my Strange Aeons KS goodies arrived a month or two ago as well :-)

And that all makes me feel better.  Except that I just remembered we also bought all this stuff (plus more not in the picture)

So in summary - Look at the postage I saved if I had waited to order it all back home in Australia!

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends!

Covenanters!

Dux Homunculorum actual here!

It has been a long time since I've done anything on our ECW project, but with Paul heading back to the same hemisphere soon it's time to get cracking. To get some runs on the board I've been painting Covenanter infantry, and nice and simple they are after the army of Republican Romans in 28mm I've been painting over the past few months.

I've altered my painting style on these little chaps compared to my last lot of English troops. I've generally gone for lighter shades and haven't used any washes. What do you think?

Oh and Paul - don't call them rebels. They're the forces of the Scottish government, right?!

Have at you, sir!

Dux Homunculorum here. I'm Paul's other half. In the sense of being the one with Parliamentarian sympathies in this blogging and gaming extravaganza.

I have been eerily silent on the blog so far, for which I blame the insanely busy start of the school year, and also the fact that I've actually been painting things in my scraps of hobby time. I've been shaken out of my silence though by the arrival of a small but satisfyingly heavy box of teeny tiny men from Baccus, which Paul kindly bought, and equally kindly sent them to me to paint.



With this box our ECW plans broaden to include the wars in Scotland as well.



So what have we got? A starter army of Covenanters, another of Montrose's traitors, some cuirassiers, cannon and dragoons for England and Scotland, and flags and bases for them all. Happy days, and thanks Paul for dropping your hard earned moola on these goodies.