Getting to the back of the cupboard: Russian Heavy MG

The great 'painting of forgotton models operation' continues and I am starting to get to the back of the cupboard.

A couple of years ago my friend Shaun gave me a group of Warlord Bolt Action Russian Engineers. Unaccountable the heavy MG and crew got forgotton when I painted the rest.

Well no longer. Here they are. I can't colour match exactly as I used GW paint and they have ceased making the shade but the Vallejo equivalent is a reasonable alternative.

Note the body armour on the officer.

Pak 40 75mm Anti-Tank Gun

 Looking down the business end of a German Pak 40 75mm AT Gun. Used from 1943 onwards en mass it would kill any Allied tank and was only bettered by the British 17 pdr and the German '88. Like the the latter weapons, the Pak 40 was at the limit of what was usable as a towed gun.

I used a Russian head on the gun aimer so he becomes a German who has looted a warm Russian fur hat.

This is a metal 28ml model from Warlord Games, part of their excellent Bolt Action range.

A pic using fill in flash: more detailed but less evocative.

Char d'Assault St Chamond

The Char d'Assault St Chamond was introduced in 1916 and was an early example of an armoured assault gun. It featured a 75mm gun and a defensive mg firing into each 90 degree arc. Armour was a respectable 11mm.

Unfortunately it had extremely limited mobility as the tracks were too small for the hull. Another limitation was that the gun had no side to side travers meaning that the whole clumsy vehicle had to be aimed at the target.

The model is 1/72 resin and I intend to use it for 1938 games.

Adeptus Arbites Squad

My squad of converted (Guard) Adeptus Arbites with Forge World models.

Now this is the firm hand of the law.

In Her Majesty's Service

My IHMS British Extraordinary force is finished - Hoorah!

It consists of a hero, Flashhear, a Guards heavy infantry squad, a squad of Hussars (rocket section), a Royal Engineer with a flamethrower, and a Naval Detachment with a Nordenfelt gun.

When I say finish, I mean finished except for a tow for the gun: possibly something from Ironclad and....the twitch..... the twitch is coming back....gibber.

Forge World Adeptus Arbites

The good 'ole boys of the 812th Precinct of the Adeptus arbites have just acquired a new officer with a cyber-doggy thingee.

Just the thing for sniffing out malefactors.

This is one of those Forge World special show models at twice the price that i picked up at Salute 2012.

Fortress of the Imperium

The clear up of almost finished models goes on. I have had this fortress for a couple of years and had given it a quick spray of Tamiya Tank Grey for a game then - nothing.

I decided to just weather and wash the gray and to only add a handfull of other colours. This model is so big that it tends to distract from the models if too obtrusive. The Vulture is there for scae.

It aso looks a bit like a leggo kit if you paint all the details. So I went for a simple brooding, knocked-around-the-universe-a-bit look.

Imperial Navy Hardstand

Imperial Navy hardstand in the harsh actinic sunlight of planet Mybackgarden.

I have built a number of ships over the years but these are the ones I decided to keep. Note the pics are moderately high res and can be blown up to show detail of the models.

The VTOL hardstand. Two Vulture gunships, a Vendetta and a Valkyrie transport are on the ground. A Valkyrie gunship circles as perimeter protection.

The shuttle hardstand. From right to left, an armed fleet shuttle, an armed Avis light shuttle, and an assault shuttle. A Thunderbolt and Lightning have just taken off and are moving to forward flight.

Guardian Angel of Faith

This is a picture of the young lady who was the artist's model who brought Karla to life for Wolf In Shadow.

Her professional name is apparently Guardian Angel, which seems very apt.

Her website is here.

Apparently she lives in Sudbury. I lived in Sudbury in the 70s, the one in London.

The artist was Dave Seeley.

I am very grateful to both of them. They have firmly fixed Karla in my mind.

Britannia

My new book, a supplement for Hail Caesar is now available for preorder at Warlord Games.

It has been a good month for Lambshead the author.

SF Gun Cutter

In Smiths today I came across this little beauty of a plastic premade model in one of those magazines. Apparently it's some sort of Batmplane from the latest movie but it's very Alien-looking, insectoid even.

The scale is pretty much perfect 28ml.

More Steampunk British

More from Spartan Games' Dystopian Legion British Starter Pack.

On the left, we have the sergeant, backbone of the British Army. On the right a Royal Engineer with a flamethrower and heavy armour.

Model Zone News

Amerang, the wholesale subdivision of Model Zone has been sold as a going concern to a competitor, Ripmax. There were no bids for the company as a whole.

It looks like it's the end for the 47 shops and they are all subject to a closing down scale. Paint products and glues are on offer at a 40% discount.

Shops will start closing in a matter of weeks and office staff have already been made redundant.

In Her Majesty's Name: Flashheart's BEF

BEF, as any fule kno, stands for British Extraordinary Force. I have finished my new army for a game of In Her Majesty's Name.

Flashy of the NID has assembled a crack British Army team to investigate strange archeological investigations by Imperial Japan at The Temple of Strange Things in Tibet.

The team consists of: Lieutenant Fairbody, armed with an ARC pistol and sword; three 'heavies' from the Guards with breastplates and Lee-Mitford rifles; and four Hussars with air pistols and a Moriarty air rifle.

And of course Flashy himself with his trusty Luger Carbine.

Captain Flashheart

That intrepid agent of Her Majesty, Captain Flashheart of the Royal Navy, Naval Intelligence Department.

Stealer of hearts and Prussian secrets.

Private 'Jocko' McGraw Takes Aim.

A private soldier from the Spartan Dystopian Legions British range.

My Steampunk elite British colonial force is now six strong.

Woohoo. Next up, Captain Flashheart.

Lieutenant Fairbody, 44th Foot

The lieutenant is armed with a sword and a galvanic pistol. He is posed on Martian polar swampland.

Model by Spartan Games.

I propose to use rules by Osprey: In Her Majesty's Name

But first I need to paint the rest of his detachment.

Imperial Navy Thunderbolt On Strike Run

Thunderbolt on a low level strike mission in heavy jungle terrain. Note the missile weapon pack under the fuselage.

Good view of the business end of the strafing fighter. Note the twin-linked lascannon in the wing roots and the cluster of four autocannon in the nose.

Same vehicle pulling up after the strike.

Flak detonates over the climbing strike-plane.

But it disengages and safely leaves the target area.

Antenocentis Spinner

I am not sure these are on sale anymore but I had one so I decided to paint it as a more general vehicle.

I kept the blue theme, spraying it Tamiya Racing Blue (a metallic) on top and Humbrol dark flat blue underneath. The windows mirrors and sensor blisters are in Vallejo bronze.

The models is painted with Citadel high gloss varnish.

Climbing Snowden for the Red Cross

No 2 daughter climbed Snowden to raise funds for the British Red Cross.

It was a far harder climb than she anticipated but she made it.

If you would like to recognise her achievement by making a donation then please go here.

[https://www.justgiving.com/Kirsten-Lambshead]

Some more pics below.

 

Stag Beetle

Stag Beetles have been flying along the windows of the houses up here on the North Downs.

One flew into my garage presumably confused by rabbit's light. Rabbit was tres unamused. He didn't like the look of this one bit.


It is Northern Europe's largest insect, scientific name Lucanus cervus

FlyBoyz: Bad Moon Fightah-Bomba

Da Flyboyz have a new toy to add to da squadron's  OOB: Da Bad Moon Fighta-Bomba with lots uv Dakka.


Hur, hur, hur....

Wolf In Shadow.

Wolf in Shadow went on sale in the States today. The first review is up on SF Signal.

Pip, pip.

John

Lord of Battles Leaves Me Cold

I don't play competition wargames. Winning ain't that important to me compared to having fun pushing toy soldiers around a table to create a story. I suppose in that sense I haven't changed so much from the little boy in the 60s who used to line up his Airfix figures to fight the Zulu wars.


If you need a more rational explanation, I don't play competition games partly because of my personality type and partly because wargames suck as competitive games.


Wargaming has always for me been a means of escape from a highly stressed lifestyle. I am a competitive personality type and I just don't need more stress.


But if I wanted to play a competitive game I would choose one that works, like chess or bridge. Wargames are always unbalanced because they are too freeform and the point systems can't work.


Consider, what is a lascannon worth? In 40K it has a fixed value dependent on the firer but a moments reflection will show that this is nonesense.


The properties of a lascannon are long range and the ability to punch through heavy armour. The former is at a premium in open terrain and the latter is only valuable if the opposition fields heavy armour. So the points value is dependent on two variables, at least one of which is outside the player's control.


It gets worse. The value of that lascannon is also variable dependent on your opponent's playing style, on yours, and on what other units you field. For example, lascannon have restricted mobility so they are valuable to a player who hangs back than to one who moves forward - and so on, and so on.


It is noteworthy that competitive players seem to spend most of their time devising killer army mixes, or to put it another way, exploiting the fact that the points systems don't work.


So what has all this got to do with the Lord of Battles? Right, I'm coming to that. The transformation of 40K from an RPG combat system to a competition game is killing the back story that made it so fascinating because it is making armies carbon copies of each other. They all have to have the same types of units to be competitive, to give an equal chance of winning. The end result of this is chess with novel shaped playing pieces.


So I won't be buying the Lord of Battles because this huge clanking machine is an anathema to the Khorne story line.


Khorne loonies charge screaming at the enemy waving vicious objects. Who gets killed is almost irrelevant. Spend time building giant tanks? Why?