RIP BB

I recently learned about the passing of my old clubmate Brendan Brown. We had been out of touch for a while (more later). 

I first met BB at Hartlepool Wargames club in 1978 (something like that). He was a bit older than me, though not as much as I thought at the time. Brendan mostly played WW2 with Airfix models. And he had a massive selection of just about everything available at the time held in trays in what we called the cupboard at the club. On quiet nights I would sit and just marvel at them. He had just about everything . In fact it may be through that collection I first saw a Panzerfaust, held at an angle across the chest of a German soldier. Remember those days we rarely had access to books that went into that level of detail and of course no internet. He also had a couple of those 2.8cm AT guns that came with the early Airfix Germans and Africa Corps. All of this was assembled and painted in a fairly "agricultural" style as befits an early teen in the 70s. He favoured an old set of rules - something like Airfix but not - cant quite remember. He also didn't really like microtanks, which rapidly moved him out of my gaming sphere, though he did play a lot of the Hpool Club staple "Wonderful Islands" which was a sort of analogue version of modern computer games where you collect resources to build units to spread your empire etc. Lastly he was a regular in John Hendersons play by mail campaigns in "Hendermobileland" where he, John and Dave Pricket engaged in shenanigans of epic proportions including efforts to pervert John's carefully worked out economic game engines by selling chairs at a ridiculous price to avoid tax or something. Through Brendan and the like I got deeper into gaming - also taught myself how to type at lunchtimes in an empty classroom so I could produce my own campaign newspaper \ propaganda sheet that I distributed in the club. I also got caught using the school photocopier making copies and got into some trouble there, though with hindsight the teachers were probably quite happy to see one of their pupils doing something other than glue sniffing and joy riding. (to be fair I dont think glue would have much effect as I had been breathing it and enamel thinners in regularly due to Airfix!)

So I think he was my friend - he used to let me get on the bus he was driving for free so that's something. He was brash, loud, opinionated and, well, just like a lot of us I suppose.

We became distant later in life, mostly because I found his brand of politics shifting ever more to the right, while I shifted the other way. The last time I heard his voice was when he phoned in to LBC last year - wont go into detail.

Anyway, BB has gone. He's left behind the same massive collection of Airfix 20mm WW2 and some fond memories. 

Cheers

Chain of Command 2 Late War Germans - where to start?

Chain of Command 2 from Two Fat Lardies has arrived (Huzzah!) So after thirteen years of version 1 I'm looking at what I need to change. 

AND of course this being historical gaming where there are no such things as regular new editions that force you to buy stuff again, the answer is nothing! Gotta love historical Wargames.

OK Almost. HMGs are going to need some sandbags or similar, but other than that I'm not seeing anything "new" needed yet.  

So I was wondering about what I would need to expand my current German army into the late war period and it got me thinking, so here are my thoughts.

There are four German lists in the main CoC2 rules, Infantry, PanzerGrenadiers, Fallschirmjager and VolksGrenadier. The FJ are uniformed significantly differently to the others so I'm disregarding them. TFL have gone full historical on the VolksGrenadiers allowing you to field the fabled StG44 "assault rifle". I'm going to go all Grognard here. Other rules allow almost any German Infantry to have the StG44s but the actual issue was really just to the VG Divisions raised in 44/45 . Of course the chaotic situation as the Reich collapsed doesn't mean other units or individuals didn't pick them up, but fielding them outside the few test units or VGs is a bit of a stretch. 

The three organisations are quite different. The Infantry have three Mg42s, 4 MP40s and 24 riflemen,  PanzerGrenadiers have 6 MG42s , 3 MP40s and 15 riflemen, and the VGs have 2 MG42s, 1 MP40 , 3 rifle grenadiers, 16 StG44s and 5 rifles.

All have some Panzerfausts chucked around if you were wanting to represent them.

So if I wanted to do that, what's available?

Victrix have just released their new Late War German Infantry set. It looks damned nice and includes some support weapons, an Mg42 on sustained fire mount and a Panzershreck . I've had a look at the frame pics however and it looks like you only get eight StG44s in the set - not enough to do the VolksGrenadier. They do seem to have everything you need to do the Infantry and PanzerGrenadiers however.

Warlord typically have several box sets available. 

The Winter German Infantry set are all bundled up against the cold, but you get 30 models and enough StG44s to field the full 16 out of the box. In fact the only issue is you will be one man short of an Infantry platoon as there is only 30 models in the box and I calculate you need 31. I'm sure you can either but a frame from the Sprue Shop or get a spare donated. This is a good set, and with everyone in greatcoats is a pretty easy painting project. 

Next up the "Grenadiers" box set. One of the older sets so maybe less sharp, nevertheless you get 15 StG44s and enough of everything else - just about. you will be short one guy as with the "Winter" set but that's easy to fix and an extra sprue if needed will provide your spare StG44 if you are doing VG.

Last from Warlord is the "Waffen SS" box. This has enough StG44s but seems to be a bit short of MG42s.  My earlier comments on 30 man sets also applies here, plus my Grognard dislike of them having StG44s in the first place but there you go.

So what I think I'm saying is that unless you want to do VolksGrenadier Victrix is probably the best choice because you get enough of everything plus a few useful support options thrown in. If you want to do the VolksGrenadier then Warlord are a better option, though here you will have to step away from a "one box" solution and buy some support weapons.

I'm not sure which way I'll jump - let me know in the comments what you think?

  

Bloody Rivet Counting - Finnish Tank dilemma

In Bruges last year with some old friends it was explained to me by a guy with initials after his name that one of the reasons our disparate group of Mid Life Crisis men that constitutes the group get on so well is that we all subconsciously recognise we are all a bit "wierd" or "on the spectrum". Other than that we really have very little in common but our friendship has lasted decades. I think he may have, in layman's terms, been referring to the general "shediness" of our group - we all either have sheds or suitable substitutions for them (I have a loft) even though we use them for vastly different reasons.

My particular problem is my mind gets a bit churned by rivet counting and all that. Here is the latest example. 

In earlier posts I mentioned my Finnish WW2 project. This has been a long term thing and they're yet to see the table. I seem to come back to them now and then and add something. Some of the adventures can be read here if you are at all interested:

Here     , Finnish StuGs Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3

So my current dilemma is about tank support for the Winter War. At the time the Finns only really operated the Vickers 6 Ton tank. 

Here is an actual Finnish Vickers at the Parola Museum in Finland

They also used quite a lot of abandoned Soviet equipment - the Russian habit for leaving perfectly serviceable tanks around to be towed away by farmers turns out to date rater further back than the 2020s. 

Soooooooo...... my cunning plan was to print a T26 and use that. The T26 was a Soviet "copy" of the Vickers and used and abandoned in large numbers in Finland during the Winter War. This has the advantage that I already own the file and use one in my Soviet force. I was further cheered when looking back at the file to discover it contained a Finnish turret option. So I happily printed it - here it is 

Yay - job done. I quick paint job, maybe some clever paint to show the old Soviet markings hastily overpainted. Will look cute as well..........

Except for my rivet counting brain. As I was going to sleep last night - I kid you not, I realised there was a problem. That turret, the "Finnish" turret, is taken from the Soviet flamethrower version of the T26 - the OT 134. The Finns captured them and rearmed them with guns rather than flamethrowers. Which means I cant use this in the Winter War because the rearming means they dragged them away back to the depot rather than just turned them around. 

Ah well

Training Day - learning the ropes in Sharp Practice part 1 - Moving in column vs line

It's not a secret. I've been painting Napoleonics for Sharp Practice. Yesterday I had hoped to get a game from one of the five or six local players but for some reason all of them found an excuse, plumbing, broken down car, working etc. One of them had the gall to say he had plans to go and visit the Tuileries in Paris rather than spend an afternoon at "The Steelies" club in Middlesbrough playing Sharp Practice. I forgive him. This time  :-)

So I was a bit disappointed, but in some ways a bit relieved. Truth is my Sharp Practice experience is mostly American War of Independence, where the units are small and you spend most of your time in line or fighting light infantry style. Napoleonics are different. In particular there is a lot more reliance on Formations and larger units, and to be honest my understanding of the nuts and bolts of all that are not all there.

So I've decided to teach myself a bit more about how Formations move and manoeuvre. Basically do some Drill :-)

I need to be clear this is a training exercise. I'm sat with my copy of Sharp Practice in hand and will be referring to it as I go along. I'm going to make mistakes but hopefully I will learn. Please point them out so I wont screw up next time.

First up I need to learn the nuances of moving in lines and columns. To do this as a bit of whimsy I set up an obstacle course on the dining room table. The object being to traverse the table, cross the obstacles and form up in good order within 6" of the table edge. The obstacles are a fence classed as a minor obstacle, and a hedge row, a major obstacle. I've left gaps one base wide in both with the object of manoeuvring the column through the gaps.

The runners in this obstacle course are two identical units of 24 French Line infantry from the 1809-12 list. Each has a Status 2 Leader. One is set up in line, the other in closed column. I'm not planning on running anywhere, just get the basics down.

Turn 1 - And they're off. Both rolled a total of 6 on their movement die. This brought the line up to the fence. The Column wheeled to fact the gap. Here was my first learning moments. Units wheel on a fixed point and can't split their movement so even though I only needed 4" to wheel, by declaring I was using both movement die to wheel I was stuck with it and "wasted" 2". Reading the rules this is just a matter of my decisions. I could have declared the wheel with one action and then either continued with a second if I had got to the right point or continued ahead with the second if I had got them lined up. Lesson 1. I could have tried moving at an oblique up to 45 degrees if the set up had been better - lesson 2.

Turn 2 - First obstacle. The line crossed this using 2 actions and losing the lowest dice rolled. The Column moved up but were now somewhat behind.

Turn 3 - moving up. The Line rolled well with both die and moved up to the hedge. The Column continued to lag but was lined up on the gap in the hedge.

Turn 4 - The Hedge. The line crossed the hedge. As they are classed as Conscripts and Volunteers they lose the larger of the two dice rolled for movement, the formation breaks up, and each group takes one shock. The column ploughs though towards the gap in the hedge.

edit I moved a hedge piece to make a gap

Turn 5 - At the hedge the line now redresses itself and reforms into a single formation using two "Form Up" orders. It is now carrying one shock on each of the three groups. The column pushes on.

Turn 6 - The line now faces a couple of decisions and I think I got it wrong. I decided to go ahead and advance without rallying shock. The Formation would lose 1 point of movement distance, again here is a little quirk. If I announced I was taking both the unit actions as movement I would lose 1" from the total , so in this case taking two separate move actions. The line is now in place but needs to rally off the three shock it is carrying before declaring a victory. The column is still behind and also needs to get into line.

Turn 7&8  - The line starts to rally off shock. The problem is the Leader is only allowed to rally off shock from the group he is attached to. It follows that a Status II Leader can only rally one Shock per turn then move to the next group. The column uses a formation change and moves from closed column to line while the line is still not quite ready. It's a close thing but a very marginal victory to the column

So in the end, the column won only just. However I was not using Command Cards, which would have allowed the line to boost their Leader status allowing him to rally more quickly. The lessons so far are to be careful as to how you move when choosing one or two move actions. In some cases (wheeling for instance) it may be wiser to do it sequentially, but in others, such as moving when carrying shock, take them together. 

So I think I have a bit of a better grasp of dealing with obstacles and manoeuvring troops. More practice needed.........

The God of Lost Things

Quick moment of whimsy. All gamers are aware of "The God of Lost Things" (GOLT).

You know, that entity that hides the thing you are looking for that you know was just there. I'm aware of two sure-fire ways of placating him\her.

1. Buy the lost thing again. This is drastic but sometimes required. It is usual that once you have ordered the "thing" the original will turn up. Current prime example is the roof section of a Pegasus Hobbies Russian building. I got so frustrated I ordered a replacement. Guess what I found today while looking for.....

2. The other method is to accept and mollify the GOLT by sacrificing something else. While searching for the other lost thing you will almost always find the thing you lost before the one you are looking for.

I'm currently suffering from the following GOLT depredations:

A set of 20x40mm mdf bases to allow me to progress my Warmaster Lizardmen. I've decided to go for solution 1 and ordered some more from Warbases. The originals will turn up tomorrow, probably lodged in a shoe or something.

Not one but two Exacto knives. (I bought a spare "just in case" but didn't take account of the GOLT. Both were sighted mere days ago in my tool tin, but are no longer there......

A set of laser cut shingle tiles I ordered when I realised the aforementioned Pegasus Hobbies roof section was missing. Having ordered another I was going to mod the original with a new roof so they looked different. But I cant find them...........

Anyone else have experience of this and any other solutions??

Pet Peeve no 257 not a review of Perry and Warlord Napoleonic French Infantry boxes

OK so I'm busy painting my way through some French Infantry for Sharp Practice. I was using Perrys and then because I was hitting a painting block switched to Warlord Late French because they're in Greatcoat so far easier to paint. And all is good. I've pretty much rattled through the unit I needed and my core force is now complete. To do that I bought a box from Warlord - actually from a 3rd party supplier for cost reasons, and for some reason this box boils my blood so as it's a Sunday I thought I would share.

First up - the ££££ . 

Warlord are selling this box for £27.50 as of today. I got mine for £22 inc p&p shopping around. The box contains four half box sprues each of six models, two of which are flank company, and four metal command figures. That's £0.98 per figure. The box also contains an info sheet with some paper flags and a set of ammo box decals and a sprue of bases. 

This is the box from Perry Miniatures

It's not quite equivalent as this one has no greatcoated figures. Also the whole box is plastic. Forty-four  figures split into six sprues each of five men for the line companies, a six figure Command sprue (full size) and two four figure half size elite company sprues which are in more active \ skirmishing poses. I should add the line sprues contain arms to allow you to model them as elites in line as well. Cost from Perrys- £25 so £0.57 each. I'm sure I can pick them up for less if I shop around. The box also contains a similar paint guide \ flag sheet and bases. 

Perrys do another box with similar content but half in greatcoat. I didn't get that because I wrongly assumed I would have the fortitude to paint the whole lot in normal uniform so would not need the greatcoat.

So what is my peeve? Apart from the price, it's bloody obvious Warlord are behind the curve here. The Perry boxes are well thought out and FULL of sprues. I can't stress this enough, you feel like you're getting your $$££ worth as the box is chock full with nine sprues to the point it is hard to get it closed again. Also the box has three different sprues in there so you can get a whole unit in plastic. The comparison with the Warlord box is stark. The sprues only fill half the box, the rest is a plastic clamshell holding the four metal command figures plus some foam to hold them in place. I don't know, but to me it looks like Warlord decided not to include the command and skirmishers as plastic to keep the production cost down to one basic plastic sprue. The side effect is that you and I as the punter are paying more for less figures, some in metal, and three layers of packaging. Working with metal requires different tools and techniques than with plastic too. I know the Warlord sprue was conceived and designed a while ago, but so was the Perry. I'd also accept the Warlord sprue is slightly easier to assemble with fewer parts but it's not that much of a bonus. 

Come on Warlord. Surely it is time to redesign this box to be all plastic, including command and flank company, reduce your production costs, save the planet by cutting down on packaging and bump up the value for money to your customers. This is probably the most common of all the Black Powder range to be bought, being Napoleonic French AND Waterloo period, so it is pretty much a flagship product.

Rant over. And to be fair if you buy the Warlord army boxes or starter sets the per figure cost does come down quite a bit, and it also has to be said Perry produce their artillery and other stuff you will need in metal just like Warlord, and at a comparable price.

So am I getting wound up over nothing or do I have a point? What do you think - comment below please       

Cheating Frogs

I think I mentioned I was stalling painting my Sharp Practice French Napoleonics? Before Christmas Wargames Illustrated were giving away a sprue of Warlord French Infantry, and I picked one up to have a closer look - it was free after all. There were six figures on the sprue, all in greatcoat at March Attack. Hmm

Anyway I got a few more sprues by begging from friends (thanks Dave) and then picking up some from the Sprue Shop as I didn't need that many figures. Actually I needed sixteen. Each sprue had four line company guys and a pair of flank types with epaulettes. I needed sixteen line, so four sprues, and I would have eight spare figures to paint up as Grenadiers if I needed them in the future. I suppose I could have carved the epaulettes off them but that seems like a bit of a faff.

As I considered greatcoats cheating and as I was damned to hell for that I felt I should go all the way and just use Contrast paints. May as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb.

So after a couple of tries I discovered that the Warlord ones were very quick to paint and look ok (to me) at table distance. The minimal straps and the greatcoat covering the damned waistcoat really helped. I found I could paint them about twice as fast as the Perry models. In fact the main issue was waiting for the contrast to dry before putting another colour near - my eyesight is getting a bit meh so I do wander over the lines a bit.

So I have rattled out the sixteen needed which brings my Sharp Practice French up to complete for the core force. I will still need some supports adding before they can hit the table, but it feels like the back of this one is broken.

As for what supports? That's an interesting question. The basic French infantry unit is sixteen guys in the 1809-1812 Peninsular list. My usual first call for supports is to chuck in a gun, but the sixteen man units worry me because I think they lack the weight to carry either a melee attack in column or shoot it out with a British line. So my first option will be to add another stand of eight to each of the line units. They're surprisingly cheap at 4 support points each so shouldn't break the bank in points. Then if I have some spare support points I can take a gun, or maybe some Dragoons........

The sharp eyed (should that be Sharpe eyed??) out there will have spotted the problem. I only had sixteen greatcoated figures. So I decided I needed two more sprues. I consulted the Sprue Shop and they were a fiver each, give or take, plus a bit extra for postage. But a full box could be had for £22 inc p&p so it made sense to do that, it would give me all the expansion option I needed, plus a command group.

Which is why my "I've not bought any models this year" meme has lasted a whole seven days. Ah well.

 .  

The plans of Mice and Ken

 apparently oft go astray

So this was my Christmas break 2024 hobby plan

1. Print and Paint some Lizardmen for Warmaster

2. Repair a Pegasus Hobbies Log House - I have one with a missing roof bit so I've ordered some tiles from Warbases and my m8 Dave has laser cut me some new roof bits and bases so that's an easy one

3. Construct and paint three Pegasus Hobbies Log Houses - in addition to the above. That will give me a full log built village that will cover both WW2 Ost and AWI 

4. Construct my DMH buildings - I've "quite a few"

5. Repair \ bodge a few buildings for Irish Revolt \ Civil War

So a clear and well thought out plan.

Instead I've started painting bloody Frenchmen! My Sharp Practice French have been hovering at half done for months. I've decided to cheat and switch to Warlord models in greatcoats, err and contrast paint. Feels dirty but it does seem to work :-)