Saturday 31 March 2012

Britannia Firefly

Finished this a couple of weeks ago & thought you might like to see it.
Britannia Firefly from Grubby Tanks with AB crewman and assorted stowage:

Pleased with how it came out. For those who haven't used Britannia stuff before, this is a resin and metal kit- main body of tank is resin with metal tracks/running gear & barrel. The resin was a little pitted in places but this can be filled in with modellers putty. Spare track sections and wheel are from plastic kits and rear stowage is Sgt Majors Mess stuff I think- aerial made from heavy fishing line. The weathering is painted on, but I have since been experimenting with weathering pigments. The markings are hand painted for 8th Armoured Brigade to support my lads from 43rd Wessex Division.
More soon....

Monday 12 March 2012

Panther Hunt gone wrong- first crack at KGN

We had our first crack at Kampfgruppe Normandy using the full rule book - as opposed to a reference sheet I downloaded- it was great fun. Unfortunately it was a debacle for my Wessex boys & their 8th Armoured Brigade support.
 However, I think we may have stuffed up the Line of Sight rules- I had another looking the morning after- we were doing direct fire at things that were concealed behind bocage etc, and thought that the spotting rule was sufficient, even though they were not visible by line of sight. I understand the specualtive nature of suppressing fire, but I think that unless your chaps can make out where the enemy actually are by line of sight, then direct fire is not possible- particularly when it comes to Anti-Tank actions. Perhaps someone could clarify this for us.
My opponent was the Red Rajah and his Kampfgruppe. Our forces are a combination of metal, plastic & resin. Enjoy the pictures.
British end of Table
German end of table
Overview
British Armour & infantry
British section ready for the assault
British Platoon HQ section behind the bocage
8th AB Shermans with infantry section
Achilles & supporting infantry
A view from the German position
Pre-Painted Panzer IV plus infantry support
Brits moving up
Another section moves up, Vickers team at top right
Vickers Team lurking in the shrubbery
Panther on right takes out Achilles on left.

 Might have gone wrong at this point re direct fire and line of sight, as there's quite a bit of bocage between them?!
Good Night Achilles!
What was left of the British HQ section after....
....this German MG team mowed them down.
The one British success, storming and clearing the orchard of Germans.
Oh dear, there go my Shermans, falling prey to the Panther & Pak 40.

At this point we decided to call it a night, besides the pizza had arrived & the ladies wanted the dining table back! I picked up a total of 8 points of moral counters, as opposed to Red Rajah's 4. The British withdrew with the remnant of their force, considering how it would be good to have some 25 Pdrs for next time!

Saturday 3 March 2012

Forward Observer & Vickers Team

I have finished my first Forward Observer team along with their jeep, plus another Vickers HMG team.

The FAO blokes are from AB, the jeep is from Revell (ex-Matchbox), and the Vickers team is from Wartime Miniatures. Jeep has no driver at the moment, the figure supplied was scaled at 1/100 instead of 1/76!
Enjoy.










17th Century Characters...mostly

 Here are some 17th Century character miniatures I finished recently.  28mm metal, mostly from Wargamer Poland: https://sklep.wargamer.pl/gb...