31/05/2018

Soviet commanders in winter

A little addition to my winter WW2 Russians was the nice command pack from Zvezda

Sorry about the quality of the image, I'll take another when I get chance

30/05/2018

Drop zone / Objective markers

One of the players at the recent Market Garden weekend had some parachute canisters as objective markers, so I hunted out some bits from the stash to do the same.

I've found enough for six British, five US and two German markers. I've based them on some new hexagonal bases bought in "The Works"

British containers are a mixture of Airfix and Revell, German are Revell and the American jump bags are also Revell.

28/05/2018

Weeping Window at Carlisle castle

I missed seeing the poppies at the Tower of London, but yesterday I managed to travel up to Carlisle to see them there. Quite an impressive sight

Huge numbers of people were visiting and it's free to see it and the castle.

Afterwards I travelled along the Solway coast to the monument marking where Edward the First died while waiting to cross the Solway to hammer the Scots again.

22/05/2018

belated buildings for Market Garden.

These buildings from Timecast turned up too late for the game, and I wasn't sure about the size. They have now been painted and I'm still not convinced. They are sold as 18/20mm, I've displayed them with my 20mm figures.

Arnhem cottages, the front door is 15mm high by 5mm, definitely undersize.


Foy house & barn, the house door is 18mm x 11mm so the close to the advertised scale. The small barn doors are 20mm x 7mm so the right height, but too narrow




The overall height/bulk of the Arnhem church is fine, but the main door is only 22mm x 14mm. The back door is 18mm x 8mm.




They are very heavy, and attempting to dry-brush the brickwork is a pain as it is so fine. Because they are not critical to any game, I'll probably copy them and then sell them to a more appreciative home.

14/05/2018

Battlegroup Market Garden - day 2

Day 1 ended wit the Allied players marginally ahead by +3 points. For my games with the US airborne I marginally won the recce scenario in the morning, but then marginally lost the flanking attack in the afternoon. It had been quite an intense day and no chance to look properly at what was going on on the other tables, even the adjacent ones.

Day 2 say the US airborne in defence of Veghel so here's a picture after my deployment

Things then went rapidly downhill as I was immediately intensively pounded by artillery an lost my single AT gun, which I was hoping to cover the bridge. From then on it was a hold at all costs and by the end I had just managed it. So I managed a marginal win, while the Allies as a whole did badly with the overall score being -4 in the Germans favour so winning them the campaign. So it was again a bridge too far!

Thanks to my opponents Steve, Graham and Guys who were a pleasure to play against.

If I get any more pictures or links to pictures I will add them if possible

Sediments blog - part 1

Sediments blog - part 2

13/05/2018

Battlegroup Market Garden weekend - day 1

Friday afternoon was spent setting up the terrain for the game and here it is from South (just beyond Eindhoven) to North (Arnhem)




















I was quite involved with my games, so only a few pictures of the games in progress and other bits and pieces that caught my eye.


















A bridge too far! a Brummbar destroyed one of my canal bridges, but luckily I had built a wrecked one.


Andy's report on day 1 (link)

The Meglomaniac report on Game 1 (link)

09/05/2018

Terrain for market Garden - part 3

Another batch completed and it was actually in use last weekend. It comprised more canals including bends, some road junctions and a pair of canal bridges.


Here's some close ups of the bridges, scratch built from Balsa.


05/05/2018

Market Garden - test games

A group from Deeside Defenders got together today to have a run through for next weekends Battlegroup Market Garden weekend. Here's a few pictures of the action






02/05/2018

On the workbench - May 2018

Another month has flown by and the main focus is on getting ready for the Battlegroup Market Garden weekend that is just over a week away. It's a bit hectic, but I hope to work on.

  • 4 road junctions for Hell's Highway
  • More canal sections, including some bends
  • a pair of canal bridges
  • 6 Timecast Dutch buildings
  • Another Airfix/Dapol windmill
  • WW1 Arab revolt, the foot figures were started then immediately put to one side
  • Rebasing my SYW Prussian commanders, including adding a few extra figures
  • French musketeers, the lovely Ultima Ratio figures
  • Then if time permits get started on some SYW Highlanders.