Living on the Frontline

Our first try at the Living on the Frontline rules.

Marxist Guerrilla roadblock 'somewhere in West Drayton'. You can just see a shot up Panda Car top left and look for the re-commissioned T55 bottom right. There has already been a bit of a battle here the previous month.

 The Marxist guerrillas are not exactly the world's finest shots.

But to everyone's surprise, not least their commander (I can vouch for that for I was he), they hit and penetrated a crypto-fascist USMC M60's frontal armour on the second shot.

This turned out to be because I had got a rather critical rule somewhat, uh, completely wrong.

Bring on the Broncos!

Another 40K Boardgame

Another new 40K boardgame on the stocks.

Yet we know that GW is a 'bespoke model manufacturer' not a games company.

How do we know?

The chief suit told us!

Mad Jack Churchill

Just finished my model of Mad Jack Churchill by Warlord Games. He was a commander of 2nd Commando in WWII, famous for taking bagpipes, a claymore and long bow into battle.After all, a chap's got to be properly attired.

Mad Jack is at bottom right: note claymore.

Winter of '79, Wessex

As the cities descended into chaos, helicopters became vital for transport in and out of urban areas. Even the RAF's air-sea rescue choppers were conscripted into the front line.

Happy St Piran's Day

St Piran is the patron saint of Cornwall.

Winter of '79, Air Corps Vehicles.

A Lynx and HQ Land Rover from the Army Air Corps.

The Lynx was a very advanced design. The world's first acrobatic helicopter, I believe it still holds the speed record. It is still a useful general purpose machine today.

These are diecast models. The Landy camo is Berlin urban circa 1990 but I like it and get bored with endless olive green. So in my fantasy world this is the camo of the AAC for urban combat in '79.

Airfix AAC Saladin armoured car and Saracen APC.Tracked vehicles were with the Ist Armoured in BAOR, Germany. The home army consisted of light infantry and wheeled mechanised infantry.

Again with Berlin urban camo, in my fantasy world the Rock Apes, the RAF Regiment, are part of the Air Corps.

A troop transport Landy.

B17

Popped around to my friend Simon E for a most enjoyable game of Lion Rampant.

He has just finished a model of a B17 after 6 months work, including fixing some design flaws. Excellent for Bolt Action saturation bombing.

Another view. The pics is in high res so can be downloaded and expanded.

For people of a certain age.

Winter of '79 - DIM Force, Brunel University

May I introduce you to the Direct Action International Marxist Force of Brunel University, better known as DIM, a splittest  offshoot of the university's local trots, the International Marxist Group.

They have acquired some AKs, RPGs and Uzis from fraternal comrades in the Malaysian Embassy and Big Ron at the Dog & Duck public house in nearby Uxbridge.

The Polish T55 was acquired from the Engineering Department who were doing it up as a rag week stunt to attack our enemies in City University (next to Sadler's Wells).

I was a student at Brunel in the early 70s and remember the IMG well. They were very unlikely urban guerrillas but, hey, this is a fantasy.

I studied for my PhD from Brunel in the late 70s, which meant I missed meeting SF author Ken MacLeod who was a postgrad there in the mid 70s. Both of us were in Zoology: Brunel specialised in the new mathematical methods being introduced to biology: Ian was in biomechanics and I was in mathematical ecology.

Incidentally, if you want to get the atmosphere of Brunel and London in the 70s, I heartily recommend you read the Star Fraction trilogy by Ken. It starts with an explosion in the Brunel University Biology building and affectionately parodies left wing politics (and right wing). Ken was a member of Brunel's IMG at the time.

Actually, even if you are uninterested in 70s London, The Star Faction is a damn good read.