Operation Pegasus: Go! Go! Go!

"We were awakened this morning by the roar of helicopter rotors as flight after flight of Wessex helicopters landed in the abandoned Pen-y-Pound Cricket Ground here in Abergavenny to pick up waiting lines of Paratroopers before heading towards the Welsh lines in the hills to the west. Other helicopters, Pumas and Chinooks flew overhead, after picking up their cargoes from marshaling areas in Bailey Park in the centre of the town. What we are witnessing is a major operation unfolding. Bob Langley for the, BBC."

"From advanced Government positions we can hear the far off crackle of small arms fire. During the last two nights we have seen tracers in the Hills. Unconfirmed reports suggest these were members of the Special Air Service attacking Free Welsh outposts and potential helicopter ambush positions".

"Lieutenant-Colonel Angus Mackenzie gave a short briefing outside the cricket pavilion to assembled officers...

"Gentlemen and members of the press. Today we are launching the largest operation of this war to date. We are confident of a successful outcome. I expect my officers and men to treat our fellow countrymen  who have taken up arms against the Government with respect. You have your orders. Dismiss."

"With that Colonel Mackenzie strode to a waiting Gazelle helicopter from the Army Air Corps which took off and headed west towards the Black Mountains. Brian Hanrahan, BBC News, Abergavenny". 


Cheers
Mark

The Black Hounds

They came from all over Wales. Men, women, boys. Numbers waxed and waned depending upon the immediate threat to their locality. Some were there from the beginning and would be there at the end. The miners of the Rhondda Valleys figured heavily amongst these bitter-enders.

Bonded together by the brotherhood of the pit, unafraid of the dark, used to explosives, physically and mentally toughened by cramped hard labour, they made perfect guerrilla fighters. In the battle for the valleys their local nickname of Trogs, was rapidly picked up and used freely by the Government Paras. A nickname that held a derisory tone, would become a badge of honour. After the crisis, to be called a Trog was to be known a man amongst men.

One group of Valley Boys led by local tenor, Alun Barry, became known as the gwyllgis, or the "Black Hounds" (MI5 analyst interpretation). They were renowned for their skill and daring in ambushing road bound Government spearheads and follow up convoys.

The "Black Hounds" remained a local militia despite attempts to incorporate them into the mobile commandos and permanent Free Wales forces. At various times the Hounds included a bus mechanic from Porth, a Tabernacle minister and a Rhondda council employee. Two were known communists and only one positively identified as a plaid cymru activist.

In an interview given to a Canadian journalist from the National Post, Barry described their motivation as "We go down the pit in the morning with our neighbours to keep the bread and butter on our families tables. We fight when we have to fight, to protect our communities and our way of life".

In wargame terms the "Black Hounds" are a small core of hardened militia or home guard. They can be used independently, to supplement the permanent militias or work in tandem with a mobile commando. Armed with ex-Army small-arms and home-made explosives they are experienced in mining culverts and deploying litter bin fougasses in roadside ambushes.

Cheers
Mark
   

Merry Christmas

Whilst I'm reaching the very end of my reserves as the working year comes towards an end, my Winter of '79 Paras are building up their reserves for the year ahead.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Maff for being a good mate as always. Major Mike for your support and a special mention to avid follower Mark Hickman for re-engergising us.

Whether you are a follower of Winter of '79 or have just stumbled on this page looking for a rock tribute band, we hope you get to share the day with the one/s who mean the most to you and for whom you mean the most. We want to wish you and your families a Very Happy Christmas!

If you are checking the net on Christmas Day, pop by to share a virtual dram and I may have some new models to share with you.

 
Cheers & All the Best!
Mark

McAK47

Conversion-fest last night. Got carried away and as a result, produced this nice little Scottish cameo piece from a bald-headed Chechen fighter. I'm really proud of how the Tam turned out and even added a tourrie and ribbons for added Gaelic flair!

Update: Unfortunately, he is one of a large number of figures sent to Mark Hickman in Dorset to be painted which were never returned.

And, just pulled this photo off the mobile. I wanted to mash up the figures that I had available, mixing pistols and rifles, gasmasks and scarves, helmets, berets and bareheads to create that truly desperate Popular Front or militia look.

Cheers
Mark
  

More Conversions.....

As I had the mobile handy, some of last weekend's conversions still on the workbench. First, my Para commanders. The figure I'm holding is a Britannia BAOR platoon leader with head replaced  from a spare Liberation mini and given a hood from Green Stuff. The two commanders on the cutting mat are both Liberation helmet command with heads nicked from beret toting riflemen.

Next up, the Taff Guards GPMG conversion on an MJ Figures Tom. The GPMG came from a Britannia half figure that's included with their open top FV432.

Update: Unfortunately, they are part of a large number of figures sent to Mark Hickman in Dorset to be painted which were never returned.

I cut off the GPMG at the wrists of the doner figure, leaving the hands holding the weapon. Then cut the SLR off the MJ recipient at the wrists, leaving the butt tucked into the arm. The dry run produced an almost perfect fit. Once glued, I applied a 'sleeve' of Green Stuff to hide the join of the GPMG breech and new butt. Now build up the cuff and forearm of the left arm. Done! Easy way to fill a gap in the TOE and create a nicely dramatic figure to boot.

Cheers
Mark
 

Cracking On!

 

 The Maroon Machine

Wargaming is a tonic for the soul. Official! This has been one of my most productive weekends this year if not more, and as a consequence I feel relaxed and ready to take on the office again come Monday morning (in about 4 1/2 hours time now).

The Fun Stuff:

Cleaned, prepped and based 16 Welsh Guards, largely based on MJ Figures but with a couple of ex-Hotspur thrown in for command. The Guards include a number of conversions to British Army cold weather caps taken from ex-Hotspur Operation Corporate figs. One private underwent a delicate conversion to a GPMG gunner, using the GPMG surgically prised from a half figure supplied with Britannia Miniatures open back FV432.

I really do like these MJ Figures Falkland War Toms. I can't make up my mind whether my second force of Paras (well, technically my fourth), should be made up from MJ or continue with Rolf's square jawed heroes?

I'm keeping the beret heads from the Welsh Guard conversions above (with more in the pipeline) to replace the helmets on a pack of Elheim's Cold War British Army on Patrol . Might even do a like for like swap on some MJ Toms, giving them helmets to pad out the Taff Guards when required.

FYI, I found that the helmets taken from spare Britannia BAOR figures are cracking when added to both MJ Figures and ex-Hotspur Operation Corporate figures. Will be interesting to see if the helmets from Elheim's Cold War Brits will look as good.

Cleaned a pack worth each of ex-Hotspur Operation Corporate SAS/SBS and M&AWC. The head on the kneeling SBS figure with Sterling was shot, so I cut that off and placed him in the conversion bin till I have decied what to do with him. The standing figure firing a Sterling has all the hallmarks of being a great  personality figure for Welsh Guards hero of Abergavenny, Butch Squires. So he's been popped to one side as he really needs a woolly hat for authenticity.

Whilst talking of heroes, found a perfect match for Garri Wyn, from a CP Models Falklands era SAS 'command' figure with a new head from a suitable Platoon 20 figure. More on creating both these Winter of '79 Welsh heroes in due course.

Other M&AWC figures had their M16s removed in prep for replacing with SLRs to boost my ex-Hotspur Royal Marine platoon. 

Turned some Platoon 20 Male Armed Civilians into urban rebel command with berets and helmets which nicely contrast with their normal civilian urban attire.

Cut up some spare Britannia BAOR command figures and the best of Rolf's FalkcomH in helmets to give them berets taken from suitable Liberation Minis to create Para command figures. I know Rolf's brought out a pack but these are here in my hand right now.

The Interesting Stuff:

Established a core of 12 figure urban armed civvies during the week. All taken from Liberation Miniatures' URBMELT packs that I already owned, so I added a few helmets taken from other figures.

Created a five figure Union Steward cadre -  two AK47s, two SLR, Sterling - including two conversions. These are to enhance the core armed civvies when necessary. And finally a five figure Tooting Popular Front cadre (excluding Wolfie and Ken) mostly armed with SLRs. Well I felt Wolfie needed some dedicated minions.

That left some civvy bodies with AK47 left over. I have a crazy plan for these but that will have to wait till the Christmas Break. I've offered the remaining URBMELT figures to Maff, who has been working on a uniformed Clash Action Front cadre. 

 The Boring Stuff: 

Actually, not too boring. Watched Dan Snow on TV use satellite imagery to uncover the Roman Empire whilst prepping 20+ Britannia BAOR figures and cleaning up the bases on about the same number of Liberation Minis in berets. Just in case I go down the route of using them as Para reinforcements. Barely noticed the effort. From a prep point of view, Rolf's figures are a dream as far as cleaning up is concerned. To all intents and purposes free of mould seams and flash. All you need to do is file the base flat and you are done in most cases. 
  
And that was my weekend. Fully immersed in miniatures and Winter of '79. But not so much so that I couldn't enjoy being at home with H. too.


Cheers
Mark  

Out of the cold but still winter in '79

Free Taff Mobile Commando

Thought I'd share some good news from work as it helps to pay for the hobby. My principal project has been validated and signed off as a success by the Project Board. Phew! Built from the ground up, yourHR is a pay and personnel portal offering employee self service and online pay initially, but with plans to be truly transformational.

The culmination of two years standing behind my vision, five months of intense development, three months rollout and pilot. Tackling issues on a daily basis, of which the technical were the easiest to overcome. I'm delighted, proud, and not a little relieved after putting so much of myself into this project. In part because  it gave me a real focus for returning to work after my neurological episode last year. In part because I believed in what I was trying to accomplish. The pay-off for me is that it's given me my confidence back and has proved to my worst critic, myself, that I can do this stuff.

The 'Valley Boyos'

No respite for the wicked or chance for a breather yet. It doesn't just stop of course. I'm testing the next module due for rollout in January, whilst we are building two others and designing yet another. And I have to juggle this with all the reports that are generated by the end of a pilot and planning for the challenges ahead.

All that to say that I've not had the energy left to write creatively when I got home this week and probably not for another week to come. The upside is that I spent a couple of nights ratifying my Winter of '79 figures collection, which will allow me to get more done. I made that bold step to say to myself that just because I have a figure doesn't mean it has to be painted. Some will go into reserve, some syphoned off for Maff whilst the remainder of the also rans will be relegated to eBay.

Well, not quite all the also rans. I've been busy converting figures too. Once I was able to say to myself, right, these figures are keepers, some of the left overs became conversion fodder, losing heads and weapons to fill gaps, ring the changes or give that additional Winter of '79 character to other minis. It is strangely therapeutic lopping heads off and during the course of the day at work I find myself looking forward to doing more conversions when I get home.

 S&S Models Workbench!

click for larger picture

Another bit of good news this week is seeing what's coming from Shaun at S&S Models in the New Year. I have to laugh as only a week or so ago I was thinking that I was more or less at the end of laying out cash on Winter of '79 and now I have to build a bigger vehicle park! I mean, how can I resist that Mark I Ferret or those Scorpion/Scimitar CVR(T). You just can't have enough Scimitars in my book. Though I do have a soft spot for the Scorpion too. At last there's a mean looking FFR Land Rover in 20mm and I know that Maff will get that open back as a Taff gun wagon. Really looking forward to all of these. You can see more photos on Shaun's photobucket gallery here.

The Cold War will be big next year.

Cheers
Mark
  

Free Taff Teaser

We're upping the game at Winter of '79. Here are the Free Taff Fly-Halfs, part of a full 15 man team that joined my collection last week from another ardent Winter of '79 fan.

These miniatures are taken from Rolfie's Falklands era SAS types. Perfect as Boathouse Hooligans, Free Taff rebels or auxiliaries of any political colour, as long as it's DPM. Inspired, it's time to wield an X-acto  knife and convert a spare pack of unpainted SAS right from M16s to SLRs and Sterlings.

Cheers
Mark

RH Models 20mm Argentines in the pipe

Rolf's first 20mm Argies.........

RH Models, Liberation Miniatures

20mm Argentine Infantry

Very much still in the pre moulding stage but some nice figures in the pipeline. Can see a role for some of these in Winter of '79 too.

Cheers
Mark

Upcoming Urban Meltdown Brits

 
A quick update on the Urban Meltdown Brits from RH Models. Rolf has been in touch to say that the next pack will have helmets and they will be followed by a Command pack together with a pack of two civvies armed with a 'Charlie G'.

Cheers
Mark

NEW Urban Meltdown British with SLRs from RH MODELS

  
I'm pleased to say that it's not all been quiet on the Preston front. A little nudging from yours truly and Rolf at Liberation Miniatures (RH Models) will be following up his recently released Urban Meltdown British Support Weapons with several more packs of Urban Meltdown British that will be suitable for Winter of 79.

Urban Meltdown British with SLRs

from Liberation Miniatures

    
First off the blocks will be the bareheaded Urban Meltdown British with SLRs, pictured above. These will be supplemented with a pack of mixed civilian headdress and then with another with military head gear. Cracking stuff, Rolf.

Mixthese with Rolf's Australian Vietnam era SAS, Falklands SAS and sundry 80's British Army (helmets/berets etc) and you have a really good anti-government force.
        
The figures above are not at the casters yet as Rolf wants some feedback from you guys in order to incorporate your ideas where possible. So feel free to unleash your imagination and leave your ideas in the comments section below.

Cheers
Mark

updated 2/9/11

RH Models Saxon APC

  

After writing about the AT104/105 SAXON a week or so back I asked Rolf about his BAFV6; SAXON APC at £6.99. "Trust me" he said, "You'll like it". So, throwing caution to the wind.... I ordered two.   

Liberation Miniatures: BAF6 SAXON APC

WEA18B GPMG on AFV Mount

These are cracking models and scream WINTER of '79. The Liberation Miniatures web page boldly claims that their resin models are "PROFESSIONALLY VACUUM CAST AND ARE QUALITY CONTROLLED . THEY ARE NOT RIDDLED WITH AIR BUBBLES OR WITH MISSING SURFACE DETAIL" .

Bold as it is, that claim is spot on. These are the first resin vehicles I've bought from Rolf and I am seriously very, very impressed. There are a few, and I do mean just one or two, pinholes, but no breaks, bubbles, seams, webbing or flash. Just crisp detail which needs the bare minimum of preparation.

The SAXON is essentially a one piece armoured box and the kit naturally reflects this. The 'roofrack' is filled with moulded 'bergans' and four metal wheels complete the kit. In order to break up the boxy outline I ordered pack WEA18B 2x GPMG on AFV Mount (illustrated).

What can I say. I have absolutely no hesitation when it comes to ordering any more resin vehicle kits from Rolf at Liberation Miniatures. So I'll round out the platoon/troop with a 3rd wagon next month. The SAXON itself - RECOMMENDED!

Cheers

Mark

  

Rebel, Rebel

I receive a small stipend at the end of the year for my extra-curricular but still work related activities and have a couple of squids left to spend on a Winter of '79 theme before the year is out. With Maff upping the ante in Wales, I turn once again to Rolf Hedges' extensive 20mm post war, cold war and modern figures ranges for suitable minis, where £12-15 will buy me a small but still complete unit.

By far the best figures for ex Regular/Territorial rebel units or a nationalist milita based on a military cadre come from Rolf's SAS Range.

First things first, let's forget the 'SAS' tag. What we have is a range of 'shambly' figures in largely accurate but non-uniformly attired British kit. Where the gear is anarchronistic (eg Gulf War 1) I'm treating it as specialist or homebrew kit sourced via Silvermans and the like. No need to get hung up on it. It's a civil war - remember, Millets is your friend!

So, first up, we have SASFALKSQU; Falkland era SAS - 6 with M16A1, 2 with CAR 15 - mixed headgear (£3.90); and SASFALKSUP; as above, 2 with GPMG, 2 with BREN, 4 with M16/M203 (£3.90).

Well, can't go wrong with these dedicated 1970's/80's SAS minis. I currently have a pack each of these plus a pack of Vietnam era OZSAS; 9 SAS, mixed weapons (M16A1,SLR etc), mixed headgear (£4.35). I added the OZSAS to give my rebels more variety and the essential Brit squaddie character that only an SLR can bring.

I'd prefer to have more SLRs in my unit but 'Armalites' aren't a bad choice as an alternative weapon in this timeframe. There were plenty in GB even if not generally issued, and further stocks could be had via terrorist links, friendly foreign agencies or unscrupulous British and international arms dealers.

I also go for the M16 over an AK47 in a Multi-Coloured Swap Shop/Tiswas/Professionals/Tinker, Tailor....  UK. Instead, I'm saving the AKs for my Left Wing, militant union or revolutionary militias for that Mad Trot/Red Under The Bed feel.

Those three packs alone give us enough figures for a decently sized rebel British Army platoon. Plus, versatile enough to provide us with Flklands SAS, post apocalyptic/meltdown survivors or even Twilight 2000 options.

You can expand your force with more of the same, or SAS1; 9 figs, SAS GULF WAR 1, bareheaded - 3 with M16/203, 3 with MINIMI, 3 with M16A1  (£4.35); and SASGPMG: 2 FIGS with GPMG,  bareheaded (£1.00). The FN Minimi came into service in 1974, but would take over a decade before the British Army took it on. This is one weapon that just doesn't feel right for Winter of '79, so suggest you pop these minis in the spares box, use them for head conversions or convert them to other weapons.

Further character or unit identity can be created through anyone one or more of the following packs, which are otherwise identical to SAS1 above: SAS2: 9 FIGS IN BUSH HATS (£4.35), SAS5: IN WOOL KNIT CAP (£3.90), SBS1: 8 FIGS, IN BERETS (£3.90), SBS2: IN COMMANDO CAPS (£3.90). The wool knit caps naturally having more of a cold. bleak moors/wintry feel.

Cheers
Mark

More DPM Hordes!

.

Just as I think I've got my backlog of DPM cracked - I find my parcel from Rolf Hedges waiting for me at home  this evening.

Inside are Liberation Miniatures' Falklands era SAS and SAS support,  Vietnam era Oz SAS (Odd Angry Shot an all that),  1970/80's squaddie odds and sods plus a pack of AK47 types wearing balaclavas.

The 22 SAS lads have a variety of head dress and come with M16's. The Falklands SAS Support Pack has 4 figures with M16/203, 2 GPMG and 2 Bren. These are lovely models. Most are bareheaded and Rolf does nice bareheads - one in balaclava in each pack, two in knitted cap.

See Richard's beautiful Cold War Hot Hot Hot blog for great photos of these minis painted.

 Rolf Hedges 20mm OZSAS

2nd from left has an M79 Blooper and a Shotgun!

(pics cour tesy of RH Model forum)

Whereas the Oz SAS are mostly bareheaded, one in a beret and have a range of weapons and kit. The weapons include including four poses armed with SLRs, one having an SLR plus underslung grenade launcher (weakest figure in entire package I'm afraid), silenced Stirling, three M16s and a fantastic, yes fantastic character with an M79 Blooper in right hand AND a shotgun in his left. All in all, excellent DPM fodder for disparate Rebel forces.

if you wanted to build a rebel/militia force for your own Winter of '79, using Rolf's figures, I'd suggest a minimum of the Oz SAS plus Falklands SAS Support pack. If you want a more revolutionary look to the force, go for the Falklands SAS pack. Use these as your core forces and expand with other miniatures from Rolf's Urban Terror range and others to suit your needs.

Cheers
Mark
.