Blog Update.

Unfortunately I have had to take a very difficult decision regarding the blog. For a variety of reasons, but principally one of time, I have decided to suspend it for now. 

With regard to 'Operation Nostalgia' and the landings on Rhodes, it was this last game that triggered the re-appraisal of my hobby. As I am getting older I am finding it harder to stand at the table for any length of time. Photographing and recording the tabletop events doubles the game time, which given my limitations, occasionally slows the process down to the occasional crawl. With this particular game I simply ran out of time before needing the space for visitors for a few days and at this point it became obvious that a reappraisal was needed.

I have agonised over this during the past couple of days and arrived at this very difficult decision. I am loathe to say that the blog is finished as who knows what the future will hold! I am hoping it will not be permanent and after a breather will reconsider if or how I am going to continue. An option I am considering is purely AAR's (which was my original intention) but not as detailed as now. As any wargames blogger will testify, it is a time consuming exercise but has its own rewards. I am also happy to have showcased the hobby and in particular 6mm scale gaming which I feel has a great future.

I am particularly grateful for all the support of other gamers and bloggers which is really appreciated.

And finally, as part of that reappraisal, I have decided to sell my 10mm AWI collection to focus purely on 6mm. I have also taken the extremely difficult decision to sell all my terrain boards which will be replaced with terrain mats. I need the space! The 10mm collection will be up on ebay this evening and I will update this posting with a link should anybody be interested. I will need time to sort out the terrain over the next few weeks but will post and update on the blog when up for sale (this will be for collection only - far too bulky to send).

The AWI collection will be in 3 lots (US, Anglo-Hessian and unpainted) as below (link here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303630690923) :

Operation Nostalgia: Allied Invasion of Rhodes Part 3 - Landings at Faliraki

Troops of the 2nd Infantry battalion loaded their landing craft from the troop transport 'Glenearn' and will form the first wave.

I have given the landing craft BKC stats and will move 10cm each turn. Each invasion wave will begin 20cm out from the beach with 2 turns between them. If a landing craft becomes suppressed it will continue to move as normal but will be unable to fire any armaments (mainly MG's). If a landing craft is destroyed/sunk all troops and vehicles are lost. If within 5cm of beach infantry units land but are suppressed with half their maximum hits, rounded up, recorded against them.

When troops disembark I have referred back to the BKC rules for deployment.  

Turn 1

The battle opens with a bombardment from the cruiser HMS Dido. Several positions became suppressed but all survived.

 The Germans open fire on the approaching landing craft who survive unscathed.

Continued -

Operation Nostalgia: Allied Invasion of Rhodes Part 2 - Landings at Faliraki Introduction

Focus now switches to Table 1:

This will involve the British landings at Faliraki where they hope to begin their conquest of the liberation of Rhodes.

The game will be played on a 6' x 3'9" board using Blitzkrieg Commander IV rules. Throughout this campaign you will see some uniforms and paint schemes not ideally suited to this theatre of the war. Most of my WW2 collection is set in early war North Africa or late war eastern and western fronts. I have therefore, shoehorned in figures and models from my existing collection but hopefully will not detract too much from the overall presentation.

Orders of Battle will be listed at the conclusion.

This posting will set the scene prior to the game proper.

Continued - 

Operation Nostalgia: Allied Invasion of Rhodes Part 1

I did not realise it has been so long since I last posted on this campaign (Oct 2018!). Time to press on with this project.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been completing terrain for the invasion of Rhodes and is now ready to go.

The original magazine articles described Rhodes as made up of four 8' x 5' boards. Bearing in mind this was primarily designed for 20mm figures I have simply translated this to 8 x 5 of my own 9" terrain boards, or 6' x 3'9". 

When overlaying a grid on the original stylised plan of Rhodes I found that tables 2 to 4 were slightly squashed. Hence oblongs rather than squares. However, for the tabletop I will revert to squares which will slightly elongate the island.

Continued -

On the Workbench: Hood and Prince of Wales

Completed in the past week are 1/3000 scale HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales. Both are Navwar and as with Bismark and Prince Eugen, they have undergone a renovation.

This will be the last naval vessels for a time while I concentrate on other WW2 figures and terrain.

Sea Bases

In response to a request on how I model my sea bases, I repeat here details originally on the Bismark and Prince Eugen post.

My bases are usually artist card cut to the size of the ship rather than any generic size. For the larger ships such as these, I have used 1mm thick plasticard which reduces the chances of warping.

Filler is added shaping a bow wave together with other smaller random waves. I firstly paint black around the filler where it meets the hull. The blue base coat is Vallejo 965 Prussian Blue.

Next a heavy drybrushing of Vallejo 962 Flat Blue is applied leaving the darker blue in the troughs of waves. A lighter drybrush of Coat 'd Arms 206 Light Blue is added enhancing the shading effect. A heavy drybrushing of white is applied to the sea along the ship sides and liberally around the stern. Finally a very light drybrushing of white is applied to the bow and random waves.

The whole model is given 2 coats of matt varnish and when dry, I paint the sea a gloss varnish (I use a bottle of Humbrol).

This is obviously purely my take and hope it will provide for some ideas for those who are struggling with sea bases.

On the Workbench: Airfield Buildings

My fictional WW2 campaign in the Aegean, Op Nostalgia, that I was to start with one of my sons has stalled due to his availability. I have therefore decided to continue my solo version. In my campaign the British are about to land on Rhodes. 

All the figures and vehicles are ready but more terrain is needed - specifically airfields.

I have therefore pressed on preparing for the next campaign action. Aside from airfield buildings, I have completed several jetties, a few carts, and the large 2 storey building at the back is destined for the main port. 

Most are Leven Miniatures apart from the two wooden road blocks (2D6 Wargaming) and the 3 carts (Perfect 6). 

Kingmaker Campaign - Battle of Shrewsbury

I must apologise in advance for a rather brief AAR and the quality of photos. This game was played with an opponent - my son Jack. We did not have time for pauses to take notes or ensure lighting was about right for photos. 

For this game I had a Yorkist force against Jack's Lancastrians. As he was the defender he selected which side of the table he would deploy.

Table Size - 4'6" x 3'

Figures - 6mm Baccus

Rules - Ancient & Medieval Wargaming by Neil Thomas (Medieval Module)

ORBATS

Continued -

On the Workbench: Panthers, Jagdpanthers & T34's

A batch of WW2 armour has now been added to the inventory. All 1/285th scale models by 2D6 Wargaming:

5 x Panther D's, 1 x Panther A and 1 x Panther G. 

Continued -

On the Workbench: Bismark and Prinz Eugen

Bismark and Prinz Eugen in 1/3000 scale:

Painting the occasional ship provides a welcome break from hordes of figures. These 2 ships are from the collection my son found in his loft. With the old paint stripped off they were duly refurbished and looked quite presentable when finished. Especially bearing in mind they must be over 25 years old now.

The Prinz Eugen is a Navwar model and I believe the Bismark may be Davco. With HMS Hood and Prince of Wales next they will set the scene for some naval action.

Sea Bases:

In response to Peter Little's request in the comments below, I am adding details of how I complete my sea bases.

First, a note regarding the blue colour. Many would argue that the North Atlantic, which is the primary setting for these ships, is normally a dull grey. This is not always the case though -

This is a photo I took last year off the Lofoten Islands. Looks a bit blue to me! The deciding factor for me though being that it better compliments the ship models especially in this small scale. So with that in mind this is the process I used for my sea bases:

My bases are usually artist card cut to the size of the ship rather than any generic size. For the larger ships such as these, I have used 1mm thick plasticard which reduces the chances of warping.

Filler is added shaping a bow wave together with other smaller random waves. I firstly paint black around the filler where it meets the hull. The blue base coat is Vallejo 965 Prussian Blue.

Next a heavy drybrushing of Vallejo 962 Flat Blue is applied leaving the darker blue in the troughs of waves. A lighter drybrush of Coat 'd Arms 206 Light Blue is added enhancing the shading effect. A heavy drybrushing of white is applied to the sea along the ship sides and liberally around the stern. Finally a very light drybrushing of white is applied to the bow and random waves.

The whole model is given 2 coats of matt varnish and when dry, I paint the sea a gloss varnish (I use a bottle of Humbrol). 

This is obviously purely my take and hope it will provide for some ideas for those who are struggling with sea bases.

On the Workbench: WW2 Soviet Infantry Battalions & Bersaglieri Motor Cyclists

WW2 Soviet Infantry battalions have been completed for the Recce in Strength project. 

There are 3 infantry battalions, 1 naval infantry battalion and a recce infantry battalion plus several other bases such as Div and Brig command, anti-tank rifle platoons, LMG platoons, a flamethrower platoon and a couple of female sniper teams. All by 2D6 miniatures.

I say 'complete' but they are waiting on Maxim machine gun teams to be released by 2D6.

Continued -