FoW objective markers.

I'm close to finishing my 'phase 1' forces for Flames of War, the Germans are done and I'm slowly pulling the Allies together now, with just British infantry to be completed. So I decided to indulge myself in four objective markers ( FoW games are won by seizing objectives). I could not resist the crashed Typhoon base and the Ammo dump models but decided to knock up the other two from scratch. As you can see I went for a destroyed Sherman, nothing too gruesome, it's been penetrated by two AP shells through the front armour and the turret has lifted. We must assume it contains something that the Allies need to recover. I decided against open hatches and bodies.

The German base is just me having some fun with some Peter Pig characters. I know it's far too 'busy' but I could not resist showing the Germans with raised hands while the senior officer stands with folded arms as a Para commander gives orders. The truck is also a PP metal model with added fuel cans in the back.

Tanks don't look great in these pics but you get the idea, the green looks a bit flat, they look better in the flesh, more contrast. I'm still adding stowage, the sand bags you see are home made. I'll be working on all the bases with added foliage etc (cheers Jamie!), and have decals sorted to mark them all up. Aerials will also be added to command tanks.

I'm playing test games to get a feel for the rules, but I'm short on terrain for this scale so that's my next step.

Next up: 20mm Russian  Priests and plenty of ACW's for John.

FoW new bits & what's on the painting desk.

I'm continuing to pad out my Flames of War forces and I'm just about at the stage where I can start to add some of the extra little touches I have in mind for these. I'm afraid that I gave in and went 'hairy' with the bases after all as you can see, I just felt they match what you see in most FoW games now, the grit/static grass combination. I still have a fair bit to do, more figures and vehicles to buy and paint including British infantry and a couple of Sexton's, I also need to sort out British marking decals for all the tanks and I like the idea of adding individual name decals too, plus I'm not finished with the stowage yet. I'm  also planning a few objective bases using the 'destroyed' resin stuff from Peter Pig and some of the fantastic 'character' packs, I have my eye on the German prisoners with raised hands for example, and there must be a use for 'Brits having tea'! I can see loads of possibilities. Just finished are the full 4 gun German Howitzer battery plus command and spotter bases and the little 'Brummbar' assault gun ,(the latter I can't use with these lists but I enjoyed painting it anyway).

Panzer Grenadier Company commander, could not resist using him! Command team base, SMG & Panzerfaust.

The new (metal) Peter Pig Pak 40 Anti tank platoon with command base. The two Tigers behind are metal and resin kits and probably my pride and joy currently. I'm still very much a newbie to camo patterns though yet.

Hairy Germans! I'm still trying to decide on a drybrush shade for that brown earth.

I went with shallower 50 x 50mm bases as I also use them for Memoir 44 games, but I'm thinking of rebasing them!

A joy to paint if not to put together! Resin, metal and plastic kit..... I mean, what are you supposed to glue them together with?

Inspiration.
I only recently discovered 'The Mad Tin Hatter' blog but it's already proving to be a major source of inspiration for FoW. I have decided after seeing the fantastic array of troops and vehicles laid out on the table in the latest post that I want to base my tanks too, I feel they look so much better on the bases and it offers an opportunity to dress them up a bit, as I plan to do with all of the infantry bases in due course. I must find out where those lovely white flowers and grass tufts come from? Anyway, it's well worth a look if you're into FoW.

On the painting bench.
I have quite a bit to work through for John C next as previously said and some has now been prepped up ready for painting. It will make a nice change to paint wagons and guns etc. You can see some on the table including a couple of resin pieces, ACW signal tower and a cabin that have first washes on followed by a bit of detail work on the canvas so far. You can also see Mathew Brady with flashbulb and the mobile studio behind. The huge siege gun on swivel mount is a hefty piece indeed.

The seven plastic Russian Priests are for Mr Kinch :)

Mathew Brady.

20mm Surgeon gives an idea of the massive scale of this gun!

Some news!

I have been busy for the last couple of weeks but this blog will be updated as soon as my new laptop power lead arrives with pictures of the two completed Spanish Peninsular battalions for Tony, plus some shots of what I have here to finish for 'Old John', loads of transport wagons, siege guns, Brady's mobile studio and the man himself holding a flash bulb. John has been incredibly patient as usual and I'll paint what remains of this box right through now. There's some great stuff in there and I'm looking forward to painting it.

On the Flames of War front I have now completed both forces (German &  British/US) to around 1600 points to choose from, and all small command bases have been painted and added to complete the structure of command. For example I now have 14 Sherman tanks broken down into 1st and 2nd IC plus 3 platoons of 4 tanks each including a 'Firefly' the upgunned 17pdr that could tear through even a Tiger's armour. All infantry platoons have support weapons available. I just need to replace two aircraft, this time more appropriate to the Normandy campaign. Next comes the first of the lovely MDF house kits designed specially for FoW with lift off roofs and floors etc.

Edit ..... just added a lovely little Brummbar to my collection, how could I resist? I'll enjoy building and painting it. Any tips/ideas for 15mm stowage most welcome, especially camo netting, oil drums and so on as my tanks could do with a lot more, cheers.

This is a stock photograph provided by the distributor.

An unexpected surprise!
Six months or so ago I posted on the blog regarding a copy of Memoir '44 that failed to arrive. To say I was annoyed would be an understatement as the parcel had been signed for but not by me! With postage it cost me £42.00 and after contacting both Boardgame Guru (who supplied me with the electronic signature that was not mine, excellent service every time), and Parcel Force decided to write it off as lost. So Imagine my surprise this morning  when a knock at the door revealed a man from several streets away holding a large cardboard box that he said had been wrongly delivered to him! I was amazed to see it contained my copy of memoir order dated 12th January and dispatched same day. I am now the proud owner of TWO Memoir'44 sets which means I can now play the extended 'Overlord' style games with the two boards side by side. I'm going to look up Overlord but I think it uses two card decks too? Quite made my morning that did :)

Full photo update coming soon.