Tank Destroyer

An M10 to add some much need firepower for my British troops faced with Panzermeks. This is the basic American model but I will probably play it as an Achilles. A thousand M10s were retrofitted with the extraordinary 17pdr anti-tank gun for the British Army, the most lethal tank killer of WWII. The same gun that was shoehorned into the Firefly.

I bought this assembled and nicely painted model on eBay and then gave it the JTS 'dirt' treatment.

Panzermeck

And here it is, gentlemen. I give you the Panzermek, pride of the Waffen SS origami team.

You will note that it carries a flamethrower and an anti-tank rifle on its crusher pincers.

Abteilung 848 of the SS-Ahnenerbe

SS Sturmbanfuhrer Von Krump and SS Oberscharfuhrer Teknik, commander and controller, respectively, of zombie squads or death ray, or...

I have copies of Geheimkrieg and Secrets of the Third Reich.  On a read through Geheimkrieg looks the more interesting and original; it also looks fun.

Next up, the Panzermech and Tommies with magnetron guns.

Pulp Death Ray

The Science Fiction Death Ray, as in The war of the Worlds, has a long and ignoble history in pulp fiction and an even more ignoble history in the real world. In the interway years, a variety of dodgy inventors in various countries sought to sell death rays, indeed the concept was reserected during Reagan's Staw Wars period, with the usual result - they don't freaking work!

The idea wasn't utterly useless as it pushed real research into such useful technologies as radar and lasers, but neither could be considered a death ray.

However no pulp game player should be without a mad inventor's death ray, so this is mine, kitbashed from two manufacturers.

Any idea, anyone?

Europe 2030

For your near future SF games, a suggestion how the political map will look in 2030.

Scandanavia: Stinking Rich, low population, high tech.
Baltica: Rich, low population, high tech.
Germania: Rich, high population, high tech, military power.
Papal States & EU: Poor, large population, corrupt, devout, run by organised crime.
Turkey: Third World, devout.

Flashpoints;

British Isles: Border disputes over offshore oil rights.
Southern Germania: Terrorist activity, some nationalist, eg Catalonia, some sponsored by Papal states.
EU: General Mafia violence, bortder clashes with Turkey.
Papal States: Constant pressure on Poland and Austria from wealthier nations.
Russia: Usual.

Note the blank map I used for this is copyright protected (see top right).

Wierd World War II - The Hun

My collection of Wierd World War II - The Hun.

Front from left are: the clones made using Alien Technology found in the Antarctic, Frauleinn Ferronikker, SS Werewolf, and Romanian SS Count.

At the rear a platoon of Zombie Grenadiers.

Wonderful wet day in Kent so we went for a walk in the Weald. Took a few pics.

Enjoy!

East London - Wolf In Shadow

This is an aerial picture of East London by professional photographer, Jason Hawkes. His work is superb and there is loads more on his website so follow the link for a treat.

This is exactly the area where my next novel, Wolf In Shadow, is set so I have sent a copy to my publisher. Wargamers will note the Excel building (white-edged, squarish, top left), where Salute is now held.

Down on the Street

Street life from warm acre.

With a Moustache

Definitely an improvement clone Number 5.

Cloning Still Problematic

The cloning process in our Antarctica lab is still not working so well. Perhaps a bigger test tube?

Battle of Britain Warriors

This Bf 109 came down in Kent during the Battle of Britain when its engine failed. It now tours the Home Counties raising money for Service Charities.

The original crash site.

Wizard Prang chaps.

Note the Messer-killer, back left.

Ripping Yarns

As a child of the 50s, I have a nostalgic fondness for Ripping Yarn type stories such as filled my schoolboy comics.

The very nice chaps at Warm Acre sent me these for free by way of an apology after a minor posting error, which was jolly decent of them.

Meet the Twingo twins, feared heroines of the SOE, who set the continent ablaze, to use Churchill's words - which, in general, are better than mine.

Mud Movers

It's an odd thing to note but the best use of an airforce outside of airspace defence is to assist the army with close support, so why do all airforces fight tooth and nail to do anything but? You might think that the air marshals had religious convictions on the subject such is the venomous level of their irrationality.

For example, the A10 here was one of the most valuable weapons in the USAF's armoury, which is why they scrapped it to make room for high tech, high performance monstrosities like the F22, or white elephants like the stealth planes.


The lower pic is of a Thunderbolt, the best all-American fighter of WWII. Fast, robust, well armed, upgradable, it was able to give a good account of itself as a fighter at all altitudes and had a pretty good range. But it was most useful as a mud mover, carrying out the traditional role of cavalry. Along with the Typhoon, it was a truly lethal weapon of war.

Die Mister Bond

Dr Maybe, James Bond baddy, shows off his giant triffid.

From Crooked Dice - 7TV.

I spent yesterday in a Lambshead Family Picnic at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, Cambridgeshire and took lots of pics, the best of which I shall feed into the blog in irregular posts as I sort them out.

Above is the Battle of Britain Hurricane, Fighter Command's primary fighter in 1940. The first modern monoplane design for the RAF, it was very similar to Hawker's biplanes. It had a decent performance, inferior to the Bf 109E in all but firepower, strength and agility, but not much inferior. This is the plane that mainly won the Battle of Britain. Germany invade Russia with fewer planes than it had for the Battle of France. The Hurricane was largely responsible.

Comet, the last British cruiser tank. This is the weapon that the army could and should have had in Normandy instead of the Cromwell and Sherman deathtraps. Equipped with a gun similar to and only slightly inferior to the superb 17pdr crammed into the Firefly.

Patton and Montogerery both claimed that a Sherman 75 was a perfectly adequate tank and killed the urgency for replacements, with disastrous consequences.

Daily Mail for all your Medical Advice

Pic Source

There is a great site that monitors the Daily Wail Cancer reportage called Kill or Cure.

Here is a quick list of things that will strike you dead with cancer according to Lunchtime O'Booze and Glenda Slagg, fearless mail correspondents.

Alcohol, Asperin, Asbestos, Babies, Baby Bottles, Baby Food, Bacon, Barbecues, Beef, Being Born Black, Being Born Male, Being Born Southern (English), Benzene, Biscuits, Bisphenol, Black Cohosh,Bras, Bread, Breastfeeding, Breast Implants, Broken Hearts, Bubble Bath, Burgers, Caffeine, Calcium, Canned Food, Carbohydrates, Cars, Cayenne Pepper, Cereal, Cheese, Chicken, Children, Childlessness, Chilli, Chinese Medicine, Chips, Chlamydia, Chlorine, Cholesterol, Cities, Cleaning, Climate Change, Clomiphene, Cod Liver Oil, Coffee, Computers, Constipation, Contraceptives, Cooking, Cordless Phones, Cosmetics, Counterfeit Medicines, Crayons, Crispbread, Crisps, Cured Meat, Curry....

OK, I'm only up to C and I'm losing the will to live.


We are all doomed I tell you, doomed.

Rebel Girl

Rebel girl with machine pistol. She could be anything from Free French to one of Blake's people.