Now I know tanks are not everyones cup of tea but....

I must admit they are rather lovely. I'm certainly no tank expert, indeed I know very little about them beyond general military interest over the years, but I'm looking for a sort of generic battle tank to replace the plastic one's in Memoir 44. I must say that there is little wrong in the models supplied in box game, they are surprisingly well detailed tanks in 10mm scale. But I want to bring this all down to one scale - 15mm, and to be able to play on the game board  if I wish to. Bearing in mind of course that this could all go pear shaped at any time I have finally come to the conclusion that board games are the way to go for me. That said I know I will always enjoy handling model soldiers so my New Year plan is to simply enjoy replacing the blocks for various C&C games with single figures, I may never use them, who knows, but I'd like to be able to display them. I want to do C&C Napoleonics and Ancients following Memoir 44.

Hardys Ale - the official opening.
I realised recently that I had not mentioned what happened when I opened the 30 year old Hardy Ale some time back. I had paper and pen for tasting notes as requested by Steve the Wargamer, carefully removed the seal and the cap and prepared to enjoy the moment ..... I poured it carefully and slowly and it filled the entire kitchen with the most foul smell I have ever endured! Even my teenage daughter upstairs in her room shouted down " Dad, what is that stink?" I poured it down the sink and fell about laughing, it took ages to wear off.

Here's my little tank (with fond memories of Allo Allo), for a first timer it's not too bad? I think the Magic wash really worked as a quick way of weathering it down a bit. Undercoated black by hand and then it took about 1 hour to complete. I have 7 more to do through Jan!

15mm Sherman Tank from peter Pig. £7.00. Much cheaper to buy plastic, but I like the heft of this model. I'll probably add a base.