Dave's miniature wargames

well, that didn't go so well.

2011-12-08T22:54:00.000-08:00

a new record, out of a period before I even post a picture! well true enough but there are extenuating circumstances. I haven't really had a ton of time to paint with working about 50 hours a week and a minor rant.

For a while I was very interested in getting what ever figures caught my fancy, that is gradually changing thanks to the economies and the post offices of the world. Mostly I have been buying figures from the UK and will continue to do so from time to time. I was prepping an order for Austro Prussian figures and I realized I hit my personal limit for postage. I simply do not want to pay 20%. If you do not mind more power to you but I have reached my limit. I know there is an impact on the small business and I appreciate that. but the bottom line is the same, I do not want to pay $40 for a $200 purchase for postage from England.

So for now I will concentrate on UK lines I can order from American Retailers or American lines of figures. since I can't get this line it is going on the back burner for now. I have another Austro prussian war I am currently reading about. more on this later.

Let's restart the blog Man!

2011-09-10T11:23:00.000-07:00

Well, alot has happened since my last post, I finished my degree at 44! moved across country with my wife and cat. (San Diego to Western New York) and started a new job as a Registered Nurse. oh and moved into our 130 year old house. So time to restart the blog.

First if anyone reads this is in the southern tier region of Western New York. let me know. I am looking for some wargaming friends. Good news is I have a painting room, also I have enough room to set up as big a battle as I can imagine, and I can imagine quite a bit.

Painting wise I have been all over the place as I usually am . But I have settled on finishing my Austro Prussian war figures for 1866. I had bought a bunch of these 2 years ago and no sooner did I have them then I heard the range was getting sold. but North Star Miniatures have bought the line and even started to expand it so I am back in.

The Austro-Prussian war has a lot for potential wargamers. While the Austrians got beat pretty handily it seems more as a consequence of vary poor leadership than any thing else. The Artillery was outstanding and while the Austrian tactics were a little dated a combined arms approach could definitely make up for it. At least that is my theory.
Second The uniforms are pretty interesting. I have always a soft spot for funky mid 19Th century look and this conflict has it in spades. Prussians in picklehaubes and Austrians
in in grey overcoats and light blue pants. cool.

Rules wise, I am going with black powder. It has pretty good flexibility which is somewhat necessary in a rules governing this period as each side utilized different tactics. The Prussians will be mounted 6 to a stand for 3 companies and 3 to a stand for 1 company. That will give me 1 company mounted for skirmishing ahead of the rest of the battalion which will be either in line or colum. The Austrians will be mounted 4 figures in 6 companies. I like the look of mounting the figures in company formations and making a reasonable go at correct battalion and brigade tactics. well that's it if anyone is still reading the blog pictures will be posted shortly.

Failed my morale check!

2010-12-23T23:14:00.000-08:00

ugh,

I can't paint anymore Civil war. I just don't have it in me. oh well, maybe latter! Well the year proved to be somewhat good. I finished 100 Napoleonic, 40 civil war figures and Nursing school. Bonus to me. and since the new year is just around the corner time to plan next years goals. I don't think I am going to try and do more multi 100+ figure projects any time soon. My last really successful completed project was Rhodesia. So I am going to go back to a small project that can be completed in a reasonable period.
First 3 projects for the new year are as follows:
1)Korea at 100 figures per side this is the big project for the new year. more to follow on this one.
1)1980 cold war hot project that I have been working on for a while now
3) 1950 Malayan emergency project very small roughly 20-30 figures per side with a couple of vehicles. more to follow.
so with some modern themed projects on the table I will start with the first Korea.

First Figures

2010-11-01T10:48:00.000-07:00

First figures are complete. 32 union figures. I have used just the sack coat figures for the advancing figures to represent the standard union uniform.

The firing figures are a mix of sack coats and shell jackets . this unit will represent a Illinois regiment with some of the troops in the state issue jacket.

I have been of a mix mind for union head gear. Generally speaking western troops are thought to use the hat more than the kepi and this appears to be borne out in photos. However since this is an early war battle I am leaning toward more kepi's to show a more smart appearance.

Interesting to see how the light effects the color of the blue . All pants are the same color and are not the turquoise blue of some of the pictures. Also all figures are 25mm perry plastics

Pea Ridge Project

2010-10-24T19:47:00.000-07:00

When asked what I find appealing about war games my stock answer was always that I could recreate a historical battle and change the results. Now I know that's a little simplistic but it has always been a factor in my thinking.

But it never happens. and I mean never, In 23 years of painting miniatures it has literally never happened. when we play which is rarer these days it is always a hypothetical meeting engagement between 2 roughly matched foes. and one that only generally matches a historic order of Battle

well, it's time to change that. for my civil war project I am picking the battle of Pea Ridge AR. This is an important battle in the trans Mississippi theater and fits my criteria in most ways.
1) significant, keeps Missouri in the union and stops a confederate offensive under the general ship of Earl Van Dorn.
2) size, I can do all the forces for either wing realistically. using the frontiers scenario guide to guns at Gettysburg it is 15 union units vs 17 confederate units and that is including 5 artillery batteries.
3) interesting units, from Illinois infantry armed with colt repeating rifles to Indians to Texas cavalry there is a mix of colorful units.
I 'm going to give myself 1 year and 5 months to collect the figures and terrain and get it all painted up. so here is to playing the battle on 7 march 2012, the 150 anniversary.

A not so new period

2010-10-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I lasted posted anything. The summer and fall have been spent finishing school. And I have not had any time to paint. Of course now that I can paint I am pretty much out of naps for the moment . So what to do ? Huzzah, a new period !

When I was a child the civil war (American) all ways had a fascination for me. I would pour over my copy of the American heritage civil war book by Bruce Catton and stare for hours at the pictures. Of course I never read it. I in fact still have that very battered book and the pictures are still pretty good and I still haven't read it. It is the one period I have danced around the edges of, painting a unit here or there but never trying to in fact paint a large force for.

Well, now is the time. I have references, I have ospreys and I have a copy of Gettysburg in the dvd player. Time to get busy.

Artillery

2010-06-19T20:22:00.000-07:00

Just finished this weeks batch. 12 artillery figures and 3 12lb guns. Old Glory figures and guns. I liked the figures and they painted pretty up easy but I used really thin paint for the undercoat and keep seeing specks of silver where I missed the primer. Annoying. I think I will have to go back with a magic wash to see if I can take care of the worst of it. oh well. For GdB thats 1, 6 gun battery.

11 weeks 84 figures. I'm thinking of switching gears for a while and trying some oppostion forces. first up the Saxons

The Regiment is finished.

2010-06-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I did not get a chance to finish my 8 figures last week. But I was able to make up the difference this week and finish the last 8 fusiliers completing the 72 figure regiment. It is both satisfying and intimidating to think this is just the tip of the iceberg. I will probably paint different units from here on out. 1 week artillery the next a battalion of Saxons, or what ever. only to keep the interest fresh. I felt good about painting the same thing 56 times minus the grens and light troops. but I am worried about burn out. All together I liked how this unit came together. I read in Chandler that the French relied on Prussian stores for various restocks. That is why I painted some figures in the tan pants. to represent the Prussian campaign pants.

10 week total 72 figures.

voltigeurs

2010-05-30T13:57:00.000-07:00

Here are this weeks 8 figures. the regiments light companies of voltigeurs. These are 2 companies. for both battalions. 8 more fusiliers and the regiment is complete hopefully I will have time over the rest of the memorial day weekend to polish off the regt. then on to the next project. either artillery or Saxons! 64 figures to date in 2 months.

Grenadiers

2010-05-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

Here are this weeks figures. 8 Grenadiers. which makes both battalions grenadier companies. I really like this batch of old glory figures lots of animation and differences between figures. a total of 7 weeks 56 figures.

reinforcements have arrived!

2010-05-22T06:55:00.000-07:00

First, how many projects start out this way massive outlay of money, diminishing painting returns and finally back of closet never to see the light of day. well this time is different because of 8 a week. 8 a week is my new wargame philosophy. I will just concern myself with painting 8 figures a week. If I want to paint something else, fine paint it. just finish your 8 a week first. It has both rewards and manageable goals built in. so will it last? nah, but let's try!

I have got a little of everything first round of 1806 Saxons, infantry, artillery and cavalry, more French infantry and a 12lb French battery. The Saxons I think look cool in white uni's and are also useful for 1809. The French are really good for the 1805-1807 campaigns but are perfectly useful for the earlier battles as well sans the eagles. But I am sure I well be using them for any battle we play.

And a thank you to my nephew the 25mm warrior. Josh for the French artillery for my birthday. And my wife who every year says "what do you want for your birthday?"and then "oh, you order it yourself".

8 a week, that's all we ask

2010-05-16T10:06:00.001-07:00

I have always had the attention span of a moth when it comes to painting. Even this blog shows my fluttering from one project to the next. but what if...

What if I could paint just 8 figures a week. in a year I would have over 400 figures painted. can you imagine such a thing. I might actually have enough figures to play a real game!

So here is my challenge 8-10 figures a week for the next year. I think I can do it. 6 weeks down only 46 to go! So here are this weeks 10 figures. more old glory Fusiliers. for a total of 6 weeks, 48 figures.

This weeks figs

2010-05-08T14:30:00.000-07:00

I am turning into a veritable painting machine! I have never had output like this before. in fact in the 20 + years, 24 to be precise, this is the most I have ever painted including 15's! So enough self congratulations here is this week's French. 10 more old glory Fusiliers for a total of 38 figures in the last month.

I think one thing that has really helped is painting while listening to podcast. These seem to work much better at keeping me engaged and focused than music. And what better podcast then the Napoleon podcast. There are 50+ episodes lasting from 1-1/12 hours long and while I don't agree with everything they say.( I find the hosts to be rather Bonapartists) they are lively and and fun discussions.

1st battalion 40eme Ligne

2010-05-01T23:06:00.001-07:00

First battalion is finshed sans the elite companies. with the pre 1808 organization of 7 line fusiler companies and 2 elite companies. a total of 36 figures.

I am going to do a historic organization and have chosen General (The future Marshal) Suchet divsion in Marshal Lannes V corps. A hard fighting corps that was in the thick of things at both Austerlitz and Jena it also was involved at Saalfeld.

And yet more French

2010-04-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

Something is wrong, more finished French, what is happening to me, I am actually painting! Here are this weeks 9 painted figures. in 3 weeks 28 figures painted, enough for a whole battalion. Crazy.

A score on Ebay!

2010-04-27T18:54:00.001-07:00

I have been going to used books stores since I was a little kid. The fun of the hunt and the thrill of the not knowing what you will find has always been a great part of the experience. I have had lots of great finds but one of my all time best coups came today.

With the start of the Internet most things are a click away. the fun of mystery has been replaced with the knowledge that any thing I can think of is probably available if I want to spend enough money.

Trolling through ebay I spotted a copy of David Chandlers campaigns of Napoleon for sale. I have always wanted a copy but it is generally in the $30-60 range. I have been to cheap to pick it up.

so imagine my surprise when I found a copy on the buy it now list for $19.00! and today it arrived. a near mint first edition! with a great dust jacket. life is good.

More French

2010-04-18T12:40:00.000-07:00

Well, those that paint certainly know the dreaded doldrums when nothing is interesting and there is no motivation fora period. but I am having the opposite effect with the wind at my back and the excitement of painting is making it fun again. here are the latest finished figures. once again old glory 28mm French pre-1807. I really enjoy these figures. Great fun and lots of variation.

With all of the new Nap rules on the market it is something of a renaissance for Nap gaming. I am going to base these 4 figures to a base with what seems to be an emerging standard of 40mmx40mm bases. 1 stand per company. this will allow me to use either the rank and file rules by crusader or black powder of general de brigade. all of which I own. I will wait until the last 9 are finished before basing them. current total 19 figures done in 2 weeks. wow, that's something of a freakin record for me!

In praise of Old Glory

2010-04-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

I have seen a lot of postings on sites bashing old Glory by people that do not like them . First, I have to say to a large degree figure beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Anyone remember the old mikes models? They where definitely in the eye of the beholder. and if you don't like OG ,then you don't. However, I have to say I am generaly impressed with what I order. The Boer war line I felt was solid. Thier 1812 range I loved. Here are some napoleonic French pre 1807. When I first got these I was not really impressed with them and they sat on a shelf for the last several months. I finally pulled them out and am glad I did. they really painted up well and have a lot of character. I really love the NCO with the pipe in his hat and the bareheaded guy showing his war face ...ahhh. and in a day and age when 28mm guys are $1.90 to 2.30 apiece these are less then $1.00 apiece.

My long suffering wife ordered a small saxon army for me for my birthday. I have long wanted to do an 1806 campaign. so here are the first.

huzzah! a new period

2010-04-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

Well, only sort of a new period. These are Helion miniatures Austro-Prussian war of 1866 figures. I bought them back in October but have just started painting them. This is part of a great line that should encompass all of the major troop types for this period. the figures themselves are on the big side of the 28mm size. lots of detail and a joy to paint. really I haven't had this good a time painting miniatures in awhile. crisp lines that make painting easy. very recommended.

The period it self is a little obscure even for me. but has a lot to offer a gamer. first a great mini line in Helion! plus a fair amount of books on the period also offered at their site. Second it has an interesting array of tactical possibles. Austria had Superior artillery combined with shock tactics for the infantry against Prussians with a superior rifle in the needle gun. I am already thinking it looks like it should have been closer than it was except for dismal Austrian command. Uniforms are mostly colorful with a different mid 19Th century feel about them.

5th Lancers

2010-01-30T12:15:00.000-08:00

Here are the latest figures for the week. Cavalry proved to be very valuable during the Boer war. scouting, finding, chasing the Boers but not so much the charge. Lances proved to be even less valuable and soon most lancer regts would forgo the lance for the remainder of the war. The lance was used to great effect at of the first battles of the war, when the 5Th Lancers charged the retreating Boer commandos at Elandslaagte.

These continue the old glory figures using the dip. These figures would also be real nice for northwest frontier figures which are gaining an interest for me.

This brings the year total to 15 infantry and 5 cavalry.

wargames factory

2010-01-25T21:08:00.000-08:00

Here are some wargames factory British infantry. I finished last week. The army painter really makes painting quick but I find I don't enjoy the painting process nearly as much. I find I am much more satisfied with the end result when I layer paint.

The figures themselves are good, lots of different looks and poses. The assembly process is not too difficult and they paint up pretty well. There seems to be alot of Zulu war figures on the market these days. These figures are not the best I have seen and not the worst either. but for the price they are hands down the best value. I will buy more.

year to date total 10 boer war and 5 Zulu war infantry

2nd batch

2010-01-15T15:04:00.001-08:00

Here are the latest from the work bench. 2010 has got off to a good start of 10 figures, not bad for me. just 8 more KRRC to go to finish up what I have for the battalion. Instead of doing the "dip' on these I used a paint brush to put it no them . I like the result better, less pooling on the figures and a more uniform coating. It's funny, I am already looking past the Boer war at what other period I can use for these figures I am definitely thinking of NWF somewhere down the line.

Kings Royal Rifle Corps

2010-01-09T22:43:00.000-08:00

Here are the 1st 5 figures of the new year. Note the black belts and equipment and rifle green patch on side of helmet. 2nd five just need a dull coat and hopefully I will finish the last 8 this week. Figures are old glory 28mm figures which I like but with reservations. The helmet with pugree is not really correct for most units. Most wore a cover over the helmet which concealed the pugree. in case you don't know what a pugree is, it's that band in the middle of the helmet and was designed to help keep it cool. also I have seen a lot of pictures with the haversack worn on the back instead of the side. having said that they are good figures with a lot of character and poses are nice.

Having just criticized the pugree I noticed the picture on the front of the blog have it on!

new year part 2

2010-01-09T22:11:00.000-08:00

Well, I meant to start a new theme year with a napoleonic army however,... I started reading a Wilbur Smith novel on South Africa and I was hooked! back to Africa for another year. so instead of starting a new theme which came mighty close I decided to return to my Boer war project and really flesh it out. I am still looking for a set of rules to use but have order the new set black powder so we will see how that goes. First 5 infantry for the new year are finished with a 2nd 5 just waiting on a dull coat.

Here is the planned order of battle for the British:

3 infantry Brigades of around 20 figures to a battalion and 3 battalions to a brigade.
1 guards , 1 Irish and 1 highlander brigades
1 mounted infantry brigade of 4 battalions of 10 figures each
1 South African, 1 Australian 1 yeomandry and 1 mounted infantry bn
1 cavalry brigade of 1 lancer 1 hussar and 1 Canadian dragoons
1 battery of RA and 1 of RHA

while I realize its not completely historical, it will give me a nice cross section of troops and nationalities and will help to keep my interest in painting. so far I have 1 battalion of Irish and am working on the second battalion plus 1 regiment of Australians. done. so hear 's to a new year.

a new year

2009-12-07T18:41:00.000-08:00

well, Its almost new year which always makes me want to start a new period. So this year I am going to start a Napoleonic Russian army. I will continue to work on some existing armies but I am looking forward to starting something new. So my lovely wife has started the ball with a christmas present of the first 100 figures. so here goes nothing!

Belgians

2009-11-07T12:29:00.000-08:00

here are some shots of the Belgian 7th line. Just finished the light company this week. I have 2 more companies and this unit is done at 35 figures. the picture behind the light comapnie is La Haye Sainte.

Perry Fench

2009-11-07T12:16:00.000-08:00

well finally back into a period just to bad I don't have more time to paint. the story of life. here are my latest( this morning). they are the plastic French Napoleonic infantry. What a great time for wargaming! Perry figures are my favorite sculptors and it sure shows why with this box set. the figures are easy to put together and really look sharp. and at 42 figures for 27 dollars a great buy as well. The figures are part of 2 different companies and I am going to mix some infantry with habits to complete the companies.

Doldrums

2009-10-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

don't you hate when the doldrums strike? I will be all jazzed on a period, start painting and then blah. nothing, no energy, the life has been sucked out of me. Some more resolute souls may take this as a challenge to work harder but not I " brave sir David ran away" to quote a too quoted movie.

What to do when this strikes ...I know find a new period! but in the meantime I have been playing around with some old periods. finished some Liberation 20mm figures for my ongoing Rhodesia project. It's kinda funny I feel like I have finally got the hang on Rhodesian camo and most of my figures are painted. oh well, I have heard that liberation miniatures is coming out with more on this line so maybe I will paint more.

The 2 bare headed chaps are Australian SAS figures from the Vietnam range. I think they look quite good as long pants Rhodesians. One nice thing about these 2 figures is that you can't see jacket lines on either figure which makes it look like they are wearing the 1 pice overall . The other figure is a South African. I have figures from that purchase left over and I am planning to paint them as RAR or support unit or PATU figures. and last is a zipra RPG gunner painted in soviet para camo.

Dutch lines

2009-08-01T22:14:00.000-07:00

Here are all the companies I have finished based and grassed. Each militia bn had 6 companies If I am not mistaken, just 2 to go. unfortunately I don't have them so I'll start work on the Belgian 7th line for now.

the picture in the background is from Waterloo. I took It 12 years ago. It is looking from the French lines at the position that the Dutch held early in the battle. it would have been on the forward slope just to the left of the copse of woods.

finished today

2009-08-01T16:45:00.000-07:00

I finished 1 more company of militia and finished basing the command company. I know nothing about birthing no babies.... I mean photographing miniatures, but I am going to play around with it some .

Maybe someone should tell them to turn around!

Dutch Belgians

2009-08-01T09:13:00.001-07:00

I will start trying to model part of the attack on La Haie Sainte by I corps. and I will start with the much maligned, I think falsely Dutch-Belgians.

First half of the first bn of dutch militia is done. all figures are Perry miniatures and I have reverted to layer painting for this period. which means it will be slow. I try to get new ideas for painting by reading the blogs of other painters. One of the best is Der alter Fritz. He turns out what to me seem like huge numbers of figures all well painted. whats the secret? In one of his blogs he noted that he paints for 1 hour a night every night an a 3-4 hours on saturday. heck, I can do that! so lets se how that works for me. Thanks Fritz for the idea.

This bn is the Dutch 7th militia bn of Biljandt's brigade. and while it didn't perform that great at Waterloo, the Brigade was an isolated force that met the initial attack of D'Erlon almost by itself. It had performed quite well at Quarte Bras for militia, and between the 2 battles the brigade lost 43% of its strength. That's quite respectable for any force, let alone militia. I think if properly deployed would have done much better than they are given credit for.

new period!

2009-08-01T08:57:00.000-07:00

I have finally tired of painting mainly brown. I need some color. So I have embarked on yet another period. Napoleonics! Waterloo to be precise. This has long bit a period I Have wanted to do and with the great Perry plastics the time is right to jump into it in a big way. Well here's to making the plunge.

first I have purchased and read (minor miracle)the rules General do brigade by David Brown. Numerous reviews on the web talk to the excellent of these rules and I Have to concur. Well written with 48 pages in the core rules, I felt overwhelmed and thought I would never remember the concepts (long gone are the days when I would read 100 pages of rules in a night and play the game the next day). But the concepts are remarkably streamline and logical and elegant, if I can use that word. I will reread them week and play test sections of the rules, so we will see how they translate to the table, Well done. They are designed for the large battalion, 24-36 figure BN's are the norm and I want a large scale feel. Waterloo is the quintessential Napoleonic battle and I want to scale it right. Obviously I will be going for parts of the battle on this scale and trying to game in small parts rather than the whole enchilada.

Queensland mounted infantry

2009-06-30T19:57:00.000-07:00

Here is week 6's turnout. 10 Australian mounted infantry. the Queensland Mounted Infantry were involved in several important fights and were rightly feared by the Boers. The figures are old glory. I am a little unsure of the composition of a MI unit, whether it followed an infantry or a cavalry TOE. If infantry I will paint another 10 figures to round this unit out. totals are now British 28 Boers 32.
As a side note The osprey book on the Australian army shows a Khaki with a greenish tint which I liked. I painted part of the unit with this color and I also used a darker khaki that was more typically use in late war.

More Boers

2009-06-25T20:29:00.000-07:00

Here are 8 more Boers. Just finished the last of my initial purchase of Boer infantry. I painted 3 figures with orange pugrees. I now have 2 commando 1 Orange Free State and 1 Transvaal. each is 14 figures. Totals now for week 5 are 32 Boers and 18 British.

The Sword and the flame

2009-06-20T12:40:00.001-07:00

this is the first play test with the sword and the flame rules. I have owned the rules since 1986 and this is the first or maybe second time I have played with them. The rules are straight forward and I enjoyed the card drawing system for hits and the variable movement rates as well. The fact that I only skimmed the rules and haven't read them though in years also says something for their ease of play. we did not do hidden movement and I used all figures I had painted by week 3 so this gave a decidedly pro Boer to the set up. we had 1 British platoon dived in 2 attacking 1 battery of artillery and 24 Boers.

middle game

2009-06-20T12:35:00.000-07:00

The long range fire is having an effect on the British wearing them down. they do however make all morale checks and keep advancing. The Boers have a longer range of fire than the British but are weaker in morale so less likely to accept the same causalities as the British. The British do make a key hit on the boer leader which will further complicate morale issues is they come about. I found the middle game to mimic some of the historical issues that we have read about without being overly complicated.

Charge!

2009-06-20T12:29:00.000-07:00

this is the end game. after taking 70% losses our gallant half company is within range and charges the Boers. However a dice role determines how many figures find their way to the rear. I rolled a 2! so only the officer makes the charge! will he win the VC? alas, no he is cut down with the Boers fire phase so is unable to make war gaming history. All in all I like the rules and look foward to more games with a lot more figures.

references

2009-06-14T09:47:00.001-07:00

Since I didn't know a Boer from a boar when I started this period here is a list of books I have found helpful. When I start a period I like to follow similar research techniques. First, Uniform help then a broad overview no more than 150 pages just to get a feel for the period. A indepth work is next then books about individual's or individual units.

Uniform help Osprey makes several books. I have found the most useful Ian Knights volume 2 Of his Boer war books. Good plates and text divided between campaign history and equipment/ tactics. highly recommended 4/5 stars. Other osprey books I have found helpful are the Australian and Canadian books. there are several other titles that look interesting but I do not have.

My overview book was Micheal Barthrop Slogging over Africa the Boer wars 1815-1902. Tons of good pictures and a lively text made this a quick read. The part on the 2nd war was around 100 pages, my only quibble was a lack of good maps,recommended 3.5/5 stars.

On a More involved note I am halfway through Thomas Pakenham's the Boer war. At 613 pages there is more than enough detail for everyone. Good background information and plenty of good battle information and maps make this a long but worthwhile reading 5/5 stars.

week 3 work

2009-06-13T23:49:00.000-07:00

Here is week 3 figs. I completed 8 Boers this week for agrand total of 24 Boers and 1 artillery piece and 18 British. I did not finish anything in week 4. but I am working on 8 more Boers. In the Osprey book volume 2 on the Boer war It shows different color pugrees for the different Boer contingents. I did not want to overdue the look so I just painted a few. The Transvaal used blue or green. my unit has green ones. Orange free state...well you can guess which color they used. and white was used by cape Town rebels. although why you would want to announce that you are a British subject is a little beyond me.

old glory Boers

2009-05-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

Finished some Boers this week. I really like the old glory figures for this range. Good poses for the most part and I think they capture the look quite well. I have heard alot of bad press on this range but I definitely like them. and compared to wargames foundry 8 figures for $18.00 old glory is 30 figures for $18.00 with their old Glory deal.

week 2: 12 Boers finished.

Boer Artillery

2009-05-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

Most Boer units were dressed in their every day clothes. Two exceptions were the foreign volunteers and the artillery. the Transvaal Staats-Artillerie were involved in most actions in the early war period. using both Creusot 75mm guns and 1lb pom poms to great effect.

total for 1 week 18 British 4 Boer 1 artillery

Boer war

2009-05-25T11:38:00.000-07:00

Well, after much dithering on new periods I am finally off and running on a new period. I have wanted to do a colonial period for a long time and have just been trying to figure out which period to do. The Boer war has been on my short list for a while and with the old glory deal and the army painter it seems like the time.

This period has a lot to appeal to the gamer. British, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian and South African units. lots of mounted units, armoured trains and an opponent that is just as good if not better than the British. I am planning on using the sword and the flame rules. units will be roughly 20 figure infantry units and 10 figure Cavalry units.

The first unit finished is a unit of early war British infantry unit. I used the army painted system which made painted a ton easier. I did have a few incidents though. first was afer dipping the figures in the pot you need to shake off the excess. for 17 of them that was not a problem the 18th however was dropped in the dirt with this sticky syrrup like substance on them. I fixed it but it is still somewhat noticable.

One of the pictures, one shows a predip group just painted with one layer of midtone paints and the other 2 are fully done after beiing dulcoted.

B'Maso

2009-05-13T23:05:00.000-07:00

Just when I think I'm out of the period something comes along to get me going again. In this case it is the period set by too fat lardies, B'Maso, and the rules set Troops weapons and tactics. I just ordered both and one of the great parts is you can get it on PDF, no waiting! My short attention span likes that. I will be doing a more in depth review after I finish reading both sets and who knows maybe another Rhodesia game?

army painter

2009-05-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to try out the army painter system for some time now and here are the 1st 4 figures. They took a grand total of 15 minutes to paint I quite literally slopped the paint on them and then let the army painter do its thing. results are pretty good I think. However, I really enjoy painting so I am a little perplexed whether to keep going with this style. I have a weird feeling I'm cheating! I do think it will make some periods much more attainable.

The figures are painted in the style of the Royal Rhodesia Regt of the 1960's. after UDI was declared and prior to 1970? Rhodesia continued to have the Queen as official head of state. during this time the security forces looked much more like commonwealth forces form around the world.

New Figures!

2009-03-04T19:53:00.000-08:00

here are the first figures I have painted in the period in quite some time.

These are ZANLA guerrillas with SKS rifles. I went with a more worn denim look for the dominate color. I don't think the shorts are entirely accurate for the period from looking at pictures but since they come mixed that way in the packs what the heck!

If at first you don't succeed

2009-03-04T19:46:00.000-08:00

Here is an example of a redo. I originally painted the BTR 152 in a tan color that I never really liked. You can see a picture of this in an earlier post.

The squad was also repainted for 2 reasons. I didn't care for the first paint job and second the auxiliaries seem to have been deployed in a squad/section basis as opposed to a sticks.

No. 3 Squadron

2008-12-14T21:48:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been awhile since I have posted to this site. Lots of other periods for my limited painting time but I am still working on Rhodesian projects as well.

I started this several months ago and have finally finished it. It is an MPC C-47 that I acquired on Ebay. It is 1/72 and is quite large! I am interested in doing a scenario with a fire force with para drop and using all of the G-cars as well as the K-car. At first I thought this was kind of a frivolous waste of time as the C-47 is only going to make a single pass over the table and then fly off. However the whole thing is a frivolous waste so why stop there, and all of the planes generally only make one pass and then fly off so why not use the transport plane as well? Armed with this searing logic I knew I must acquire one. The kit went together well and I painted it in standard Rhodesian colors. happily without the roundels which are missing for mall air force aircraft post late 1960's. apparently the c-47's however started to be repainted around 1977 in a gray low reflective paint as a defensive measure against SA-7.

2008-08-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since the last post! I have taken pics of 2 different types of units this time.

Black Rhodesian Forces made up the majority of the Rhodesian Armed forces. This is 2 examples of units.

The First is the Security force Auxiliaries These were Guerrillas that turned themselves in after the first settlement. Primarily used with mixed results in tribal trust lands. weapons include AK 47's and G-3 rifles. They operated under their own officers. Figures are Liberation mini's generic African Government troops with bush hats.

The second unit is an internal affairs section. They where used to defend protected villages. deployed in up to platoon strength with white officers They would be deployed in keeps adjacent to the PV. Used also for sweeps around the PV the khaki uniforms and red hat bands are distinctive to the units. Officers also wore cherry red berets. Figures and the rest of the Lib fig African government troops and a left over SADF trooper.

Game on 3/5

2008-03-06T17:28:00.000-08:00

This game consisted of a tracker unit of 4RR following a spoor with 2 sticks of RLI troops backing them up. Also on board was a Forward air controller in a Percival Provost.

On the Guerrilla side where 3 squads of fighters for a total of 30 men.

Guerrilla's where setup on graph paper and we used tracking rules to vector the Rhodesians to the right area.

The tracker unit finally made contact with the guerrillas after they where hit in an ambush resulting in 3 WIA for the Rhodesians

sweep line

2008-03-06T17:26:00.000-08:00

The 2 sticks of RLI where called in and swept through taking out the first guerrilla position.

new changes to the rules for this game consisted of rolling for wounds vs kills. if the Rhodesians are wounded they have to call for casevac and evac their wounded. doing so gets 1/2 their victory points cost back per casualty figure.

Also any captured guerrillas are worth double their victory point cost. so it becomes worthwhile to exam former enemy positions.

2nd ambush!

2008-03-06T17:22:00.000-08:00

Having run into the second group of guerrilla in the same manner as the first. the second stick takes 2 casualties. At which point the Provost is called in.

Provost strike

2008-03-06T17:19:00.000-08:00

The Provost delivers 2 rocket attacks and a strafing run. combined with the fire of the remaining stick results in the 2nd squad being
wiped out.

We brought out a rule that was play tested originally called bombshell. which is once contact has been made the guerrilla group can disband and randomly roll for direction for each member of the group. any surviving guerrilla to make an edge of the board count for victory points

The game was called at this point due to time restraints and was an outstanding success! over all casualty's where 1 guerrilla captured, 1 escaped and 18 KIA. the Rhodesians where 3 WIA and`1 KIA. Overall It had the feel of the right amount of damage for both sides Historically. It was also just a narrow Rhodesian victory due to the high victory point cost of the Rhodesian Troopers. Chris and I where both pleased with this latest play test of the rules.

Book Review

2008-03-05T21:47:00.000-08:00

Just Received the latest book on the Rhodesian African Rifles called Masodja by Alexander Binda. This one is another great book by 30 degrees south publishing. It comes in the same coffee table type format as the Book on the RLI and includes a DVD.

The book is 400 pages and covers the RAR from WW1 to 1981. The second 200 pages are concerning the Rhodesian bush war. There doesn't apear to be as many pictures as the previous volume and no color pictures at all. However don't let that deter you, there is still a massive amount of pictures and some very good color plates showing the uniforms worn by the regt. From a war gaming perspective the book really shines with the awesome and I do mean awesome maps included. It looks like dozens of small scale maps showing individual skirmishes.

This is another home run by Mr. Binda. At $90.00 it is on the expensive side but for the maps alone I can recommend it. I understand that a history of the Rhodesia Regt is in the works and I for one can't wait.
5 out of 5 stars

Game on 2/20

2008-02-19T20:01:00.000-08:00

We attempted a refight of the Monte Cassino Battle concentrating on the Frelimo armoured counterattack. I have taken some liberties with the compostion of forces. What should be 6 T-54 are represented by 2 T-34 and 2 BTR-152. We actually were just play testing the armoured rules.

Early turns saw the advance of Frelimo forces along 2 fronts. AA fire damaged the Lynx forcing it to return to base.

Vampires on target

2008-02-19T19:59:00.000-08:00

This game had lots of aircraft, lots of airstrikes and a fair amount of damage. here a Vampire takes out a T-34 of the right hook.

The Hunters turn

2008-02-19T19:57:00.000-08:00

Since we were going for an external op Lots of Airpower was allocated for the defenders. Here a Hawker Hunter strike attempts to damage a T-34. No luck this time.

K car

2008-02-19T19:56:00.000-08:00

With a AA gun present and stationary for most of the game. I was wondering if we would be experiencing more aircraft losses. Such was not the case. a couple of close calls and the damage to the Lynx was the extent of it.

The Armor battle

2008-02-19T19:52:00.000-08:00

The true action of the game was the fire fight between the Eland and The T-34/85. on one hand a poor crew with stalwart hearts in the T-34 on the other hand a veteran armored car that couldn't hit the broadside of a barn! in 2 games the eland has run up the impressive total of 17 shots without a kill. And it isn't a problem with the rules. just terrible dice rolling mixed with fantastic morale rolls on the part of the T-34. But the law of averages finally caught up to the T-34 and failing 1 to many morale checks it beats a hasty retreat. Emboldened by its new found skills the Eland goes on to make a quick kill of the BTR -152.

Overall a good play test of the rules.

Finally!

2008-02-09T10:33:00.000-08:00

The day has finally arrived. The day I have been waiting for for 8 months. What could be so momentous?

I finally won a canberra on ebay! For some reason I have had the worst luck with this. Generaly ebay has been great for picking up any model you could want for the period. The kit is an out of production one from airfix, so there is always a bidding war when one shows up. The Rhodesians did not use the later models so to be accurate you need a B(1).6 not the later mk 8's. the canopy is all wrong on the later models. I bet I had bid on half a dozen over the last 8 months trying to get one. usually the price is between 20-30 US dollars.

A review of the new canberra will be up shortly.

More Armoured cars

2008-02-07T20:36:00.000-08:00

I understand that the armoured cars would operate in groups of 2 Elands with 2 ferrets. on sweeps in conjuction with the Rhodesia Regt or other unit. I have painted the Eland with camoflaged markings and have added the head from a unused infantry figure. The RHACR were known as the black devils and I wanted to have at least 1 figure with the black beret. This is the same eland that I had painted earlier but was not completely statisfied with. It is always pleasing to fix an earlier project and make it what you wanted it to be in the first place.

After seeing pictures in the new book on the RLI I have started to add brigade insignia to my vehicles. in this case I believe it is the 2nd Bgde, which is a rhino. The Ferrets are from the excellent liberation miniatures range. Both ferrets are the same colors but I added more white to the highlight in the first vehicle on the left. I wanted to make one look more sun beaten. Overall I am fairly pleased with the effect.

Rhodesia Regt Trackers

2008-02-05T19:52:00.000-08:00

I have been wondering how best to use these figures. They are part of the Liberation mini's Rhodesian Range Beret and bareheaded pack.

As I understand it the Rhodesian Army followed conventional grooming standards for most units. Therefore men with full beards are out.

The one prominent exception to this rule is the Selous Scouts. However, most of the pictures I have seen with scouts in this uniform are in training excersises.

Reading the new history of the RLI I saw a reference to a unit from the 4th bn of the Rhodesia Regt tracker unit and noted that they all had beards! I found my unit. The trackers were the elite of the RR battalions.

New Rhodesians

2008-02-04T19:20:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I have painted new figures. Here is a selection of new Rhodesians.

The last figure is a conversion. I generally don't bother with conversions but I wanted some Rhodesians with long pants and the more common hat. All the figures are Liberation miniatures South Africans. This is a great company and I have been looking at some of their other lines for figures that will work for the period.

Generally, The South Africans, British with similar head gear and some from the multipurpose range will all pass. I am also wondering if the Israeli paratroopers with British para helmets and FN's might not pass as well. I think 1 or 2 of them might look good mixed in. Any more would probably be over kill.

Book review

2008-01-29T18:23:00.000-08:00

James and the Duck by Faan Martin\

This is my latest purchase, culled off amazon at the amazingly low price of $ 14.95. Unheard of for a book about Rhodesia. The 257 pages cover the authors time as a National serviceman with 1 indep Company and his time with 4 territorial BN. This book is a series of short vignettes about the author and stories he heard during the war. There is very little of the gritty combat writing aka Fireforce. That said the Author is a witty and compelling writer. I enjoyed the book so much I polished it in an afternoon. Buy it for both the background and the writing and to see a soldiers perspective from a line unit.

2.5 stars for direct relavance to wargaming the period
4 out of 5 stars for background and writing

odds and ends

2008-01-13T22:36:00.000-08:00

Just found a new blog covering this periodhttp://jasonswargames.blogspot.com/ Jason has some excellent conversions and can't wait to see what else he does. Thanks for the link Jason.

I have a lot of new projects on the burner right now so a lot should be coming out in the next month or so. Just started a C-47 in 1/72 scale. what a monster it is to just make a single pass over the game board! also started some conversions of figures.

If anyone has a blog or gaming link let me know and I would be happy to link to it.

Motor transport

2007-12-31T17:15:00.000-08:00

Just finished these 2 Landrovers. I was inspired to get them after viewing a DVD on the SAS that had 2 landrovers driving over a course and suddenly opening up on a target with front and back GMP's. Shades of David Stirling! Unfortunately I have never read an account of that happening in reality. Although landrovers were used to transport SAS on an external op into Zambia.

These 2 are painted in standard Rhodesian colors. The GMPs are Lib figures weapons. The tire on the hood is left over from the Panhard 90. Both are Liberation miniatures. I am hoping the longer wheel base landrover comes back in stock as well as the bedford trucks. I need to order some crew to go with these vehicles still. They will be useful for a convoy scenario or external raids.

August game

2007-12-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

The game was a generic fire force action. I had thought I lost these pictures. I can't remember when the game was except the end of august. the usual suspects where involved. Myself and the long suffering Chris. Rules were Chris's play test modern rules.

G cars unload the RLI off board and the 3 stop groups advance toward the middle. The green chits represent suspected guerrilla locations. Once a site is spotted a dice role on a table lets both sides know what is there. Although it could also be caches of weapons or booby traps. The guerrilla player picks the locations of the chits and not the locations of the individual forces. this helps to keep both sides on their toes and helps to lessen the omnipotence of the guerrillas.

This group(2nd picture) ended up being in a fire fight with 1 of the stops and being force to retreat after most of the squad was wiped out. they retreated to the large clump of elephant grass which had a chit. rolling on the table the single survivor ran into a Lion definitely not his day. after a hand to hand combat the lion was the winner and this group was hors de combat.

high water mark

2007-12-01T10:08:00.000-08:00

The K car continues to circle known enemy positions . The 20mm cannon proves to be deadly wiping out concentrations of enemy forces. This is proving to be a model game for a successful fire force attack ...but things are about to change.

bravery medal

2007-12-01T09:58:00.000-08:00

The alouette is shot down. The Door gunner survives the crash and a rescue team advances toward the helicopter behind the hill on the left side of the picture. An alert sentry hears movement, throws a grenade taking out 2 of the fire team. goes berserk, charges and takes out the other 2! continuing his berserk status he advances and wipes out the door gunner all under a hail of fire form the other Rhodesian positions!

2007-12-01T09:52:00.000-08:00

Provost Strikes are called in resulting in most of the remaining guerrillas being destroyed. We are still developing the air rules but 1 pass with ordnance and 1 for machine guns is what we are going with for now. At a later date I will list it by individual ordnance load to provide more flexibility for a strike.

end game

2007-12-01T09:46:00.000-08:00

The End. After having the 2nd fire team wiped out the Rhodesians are unable to continue the advance. and while the guerrilla force is almost totally destroyed the point lost of a helicopter and a fire team prove too great resulting in a ZAPU victory.

Great job Chris on waiting for the right moment to strike. And the single guerrilla that wrecked all the havoc escaped off the board!

Review 3

2007-10-02T21:49:00.000-07:00

So far the Rhodesians are coming along nicely but a fair amount remains to be done. I have 4 sticks of RLI and 1 of SAS plus 1 command fig. for a total of 21 figures.

short term: finish the 15+ figures and 3 vehicles I still have sitting around. which will finish a paratrooper section

medium: more heavy weapons and Rhodesian African Rifles

long range: unimogs unimogs unimogs! so I can do a proper external ground raid also some early period figures in the Commonwealth type uniforms.

and that's it. I think I am looking at a 2 year project instead of the year I initial planned. but its still definitely do able.

review 2

2007-10-02T21:36:00.000-07:00

Guerrilla forces to this point have turned out really well. I like the motley look of them. I have painted 3o infantry 1 hvy AA gun 2 t-34 and 2 BTR 152

Short term goals: more heavy weapons, Mg's and recoilless rifles maybe some mortars and AA guns.

medium: I need to double the infantry component. add figs with SKS and FN FAL's

long: finish the 2 t-54's I bought and all those little wheels that go with them!

review

2007-10-02T21:25:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't done any thing for the last month on my 2007 project I decided to review my progress to this point. Sometimes it is good to look back on your work and plan your next step. So I will take a look at various parts of the project and plan short and long term goals.

So far in 9 months of working on this period my air assets have turned out fairly good. I am pleased with my basic model working skills although they will win no awards. short term I need to get a Canberra and a c-47/dc-3 for airborne ops. Long term is to finish my 2 alouettes and get 1 more so I can replicate 3 G cars to go with my K car.

book review

2007-09-29T11:48:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have had a chance to post anything new. I have been experiencing computer issues and ended up losing all of my pictures.
On a positive note I just received my copy of The Saints By Alexandre Binda. All I can say is Wow! This book is 515 pages long and is in a large coffee table format. It literally has hundreds of pictures, color and black and white. and some very nice maps. The text looks solid but I have not had a chance to really study it. It also comes with a DVD which I have not had a chance to view yet. It is at the steep end for a book. $90.00 US dollars but I have to say It looks to be well worth it. 5 out of 5 stars.

Tough as a tank

2007-07-29T12:51:00.000-07:00

The Rhodesians get the first shot in. The armoured car gets two solid hits in damaging the tank. Both shots should have taken out the tank but we where calling the gun a medium gun instead of what it really was vs a WW2 tank a heavy gun. next up using a innovated idea of the game to use initiative chits the SAS call in a loitering Hunter, still no effect. After that are a couple of RPG-7 hits and still no kills. meanwhile the tank passes all morale tests like they are guards.

with the riposte spent the T34 easily goes through the armour of the AC. at least we got something right!

The tank clash

2007-07-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

In the actual battle FRELIMO tanks (unclear if T-34/85's or T-54's) advanced on the Rhodesian Armoured car position only to retreat after being hit with 25lb artillery fire.

Reinforcements have now arrived for the Zanla, in the form of FRELIMO tanks and infantry.

The rules have worked well to this point, however I had forgot to tell Chris to bring the tank rules so we kinda made it up on the fly as far as ranges / damage effects and so on. In retrospect we made the 90mm gun on the armoured car to light and the t-34 armour too heavy. we will be replaying this one at a later date with the correct rules.

2007-07-27T10:17:00.000-07:00

After intense rocket attacks some ZANLA brake and flee on the hilltop. The Rhodesian forces advancing in rushes under cover of smoke are able to clear the 1st hill.

The rules have worked well to this point giving a good account of infantry combat and movement. interestingly, the Rhodesians have hardly utilized their weapons. in fact, the most important weapon has been the Radio for calling in 25lb artillery and air strikes.

Vampires on target

2007-07-25T16:44:00.000-07:00

The first stick of SAS move on the board followed by the Eland. The eland takes up a position to Secure the left flank. Coming under fire form the hilltop fortification the SAS takes a casualty. them pops smoke to conceal their advance. The rules prove to be less than forgiving of dumb mistakes.

The SAS then calls in air strikes, first up, (because I haven't used them yet) is the Vampire. We are still putting the finishing touches on modern air section. The strike proves to be effective and the advance continues.

Game on 7/24

2007-07-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

I am going to try something new for this game commentary. instead of putting it all on the blog I am going to put it on over the next several days.

This game was played between myself and Chris H and was a play test of his rules, soon to be published. the scenario was based on a reduced scale or "bathtub" version of the Monte casino battle in Mozambique in 1979. 2 groups of Zanla set up with supporting weapons in trenches on both hill tops. A force of SAS and RLI with armoured and air support need to clear and occupy both hills.

Opening moves consist of the AML-90 and the 1st couple of sticks moving onto the board.

Book Review 5

2007-07-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

The primary reason this period is difficult to learn about is the expense of the books involved. you can easily spend hundreds of dollars trying to learn about the period. with that in mind here are a couple of books not to spend money on. This is a combined book review. The 2 books are Rhodesia by Robin Moore and Dead Leaves by Dan Wylie.
Robin Moore of French connection fame apparently lived in Rhodesia for part of 2 years and Wrote about the conflict trying to draw western interest in the war. The first half of the book is a list of atrocities by the guerrilla forces and makes for pretty heavy reading. the 2nd half is small over view of the Rhodesian defense forces and interviews with Americans fighting in Rhodesia.
I can't say this book has much that recommends itself to someone wargaming the period. 1st half is brutal reading the 2nd is very superficial and doesn't go into enough detail. I have seen this book on ebay for as little as $20.00, don't do it. 1 star out of 5.

The 2nd book had potential. it was written by some one doing his national service time and I hoped would give some insight into service with the Rhodesia Regt. On the good side the book is well written but not a lot happens. The Author follows the template of going from boot camp experience to the battlefield and ending with completion of service. Problem is he didn't have the type of service that makes for compelling literature. There is 1 firefight but the book is 190+ pages and it made me think If I were to write a book about my time as a Marine. It might be interesting to me but no one else. new in paperback at $26.00 2 out of 5 stars

game on 6/27

2007-06-28T17:47:00.001-07:00

This is the latest game played between myself (now 0-3 at Rhodesian games) and my stalwart opponent Chris H. This scenario is based on an incident occurring in Zambia in 1979 between an SAS recon patrol and a ZIPRA base camp.

To this point we have been using David Manley's excellent set of free rules fire force. But because we are going to be doing a lot of vehicle heavy games in the future I wanted to try a new set of rules that added that in. For this scenario we used the arc of fire rules set I found in a local game store. A of F is still a 1 figure =1 man skirmish system.

The Advance

2007-06-28T17:40:00.000-07:00

The SAS move carefully forward, as they attempt to spot the guerrillas. they try to utilise mutual support and bases of fire to advance on the suspected enemy positions This part of the game utilized a fair amount of wasted time drawing cards and shuffling decks.

The firefight

2007-06-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

Contact! as the stick stumbles through out of the thick foliage they come across a line of trenches full manned and waiting for them. A heavy fire fight ensures resulting in 3 KIA for the Rhodesians in exchange for 1 wounded ZIPRA. Now that they have been spotted, the Guerrillas engage at long range with 2 other sticks resulting in 4 more SAS knocked out in exchange for 2 wounded terrs.

The airstrike

2007-06-28T17:26:00.000-07:00

The fire team leader of the destroyed stick calls for close air support by Hawker Hunters loitering above the battle. The projected line of the bombs is anticipated as being right over the target.

The fiasco

2007-06-28T17:23:00.001-07:00

Here is the actual pattern of the ordnance. 1 set of bombs lands between the 1st and 2nd trench lines wounding a number of Zipra. The 2nd bomb goes horriblely short catching the FO in the open and resulting in a friendly fire KIA.

AA fire

2007-06-28T17:19:00.001-07:00

As the Hunter streaks past, the 14.5 mm AA gun opens fire. The maneuvering jet is able to avoid the rounds and flies for home.

post mortem

2007-06-28T17:02:00.000-07:00

This is the end game. The 14.5mm gun opens fire on the fire team across the valley inflicting a single casualty and resulting in the SAS pulling back out of range of the withering fire of the ZIPRA forces. The end result is a decisive ZIPRA win vs the Best of the Rhodesian army. 9 SAS casualties (1 self inflicted ) vs 1 Zipra.

In summation both of us disliked this rules set on a couple of points. 1st, if we understood the rules correctly, both sides shoot the same without regard for troop quality. It is like saying the BEF in 1914 shoots the same as Conscripted Russians in world war one. 2nd the card system was cumbersome at best with the side on defense having to keep turning cards until something interesting happens. The air rules were all so underdeveloped and we just had to wing( pun intended) most of that. With some tweaking they could be useful but I think I will keep looking for a set of rules.

Selous Scouts part 1

2007-06-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

The Selous Scouts were a Regiment size unit that had a two fold mission. 1st it was a counter terr unit that operated with captured terrorist as part of the unit. 2ND mission was in an external role. In the external role Selous scouts often used vehicles painted to look like Mozambique army to infiltrate many kilometers deep into Mozambique. Bristling with weapons including 50 cal and rocket launchers . The operations were generally wildly successful in destroying guerrilla camps and disrupting Zanla operations. The scouts would dress in typical zanla/frelimo uniforms and carry communist weapons. Being a multiracial unit white members would were a dark camo face paint to hide their skin color.

These unimogs and men are both liberation miniatures. The standing figure is from their multipurpose range and is excellent for portraying white troops in soviet style equipment with out appearing too uniform. The 50 cal is one I had lying around from a previous buy. These are a work in progress since I am going to be adding more weapons to each truck. Syr hobbs does not carry the liberation range vehicles but Duane is happy to order them on a special order basis.

Resources

2007-06-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

My idea in starting this blog was two fold. To motivate me to keep painting and to provide resources for someone wanting to simulate this period. With the latter point in mind here is a run down on where I have got my supply of figures.

Figures : All are 20mm and all are Liberation miniatures. I really like their figures proportions and they have a very large selection of figures, weapons and vehicles. I hope that they continue to expand their range as it still needs to cover certain important types of figures and vehicles. The company is in the UK at http://www.rhmodels.com/ The US distributor is http://www.syrhobbswargames.com/ Duane is very helpful on special orders and ships quickly. He does not carry the full line of miniatures so make sure to look on rhmodels if you don't see what your looking for.

Models: all aircraft and most vehicles have come from ebay. Patience and looking for a good deal have manage to keep my costs down and provided me with out of production types of models. Now to find a cheap airfix Canberra!

Books: Books are a problem. Besides Osprey most titles are out of print and are fairly expensive. I have found the titles I have reviewed on ebay and amazon. Look on used books sites and in used book stores. patience will once again work to your advantage and make the good deal all the better.

Eland 90

2007-06-15T23:47:00.001-07:00

The Rhodesian armoured car Regt Consisted of a variety of home and foreign built armoured vehicles. The heavy firepower was provided by the Elands. This is the south African provided AML-90 AC's. Equipped with a 90 mm gun it was capable of dealing with any armoured forces that were current in southern Africa.

This model is by ACE. it was kind of a pain to put together. molded in white plastic with a fair amount of flash it was sometimes difficult to determine were the flash started and pieces seem to not fit that great. however it did go together quickly and once painted most of the faults seem to be lost. I chose to paint this model in a single color. I have seen pictures that indicate both with aand without a camo pattern were used.

T-34/85

2007-06-15T14:44:00.000-07:00

The Soviet Union provided massive aid to each of the Front line states bordering Rhodesia as well as ZAPU. The Chinese providing aid to ZANU. While Conventional warfare was limited mostly to External operations ZAPU did build mechanised forces planning for a conventional invasion sometimes in 1980-81.

Mozambique was provided with T-34/85 and T-54's. So while their were no direct tank battles in the conflict the potential existed for them. Including an encounter between Mozambique tanks and eland armoured cars that ended when Rhodesian Artillery drove the tanks away prior to contact.

This T-34/85 is from armourfast 1/72 range. The box includes 2 easy to put together models.

As the T34's provided to Mozambique were over 20 years old by the time they arrived I tried make them dirty and rusty to show hard use and little maintenance. The models went together easy and as there are about 7 parts per tank very fast.

BTR 152

2007-06-05T17:21:00.000-07:00

Mozambique following independence received massive Soviet aid. Included in the transition from guerrilla force to conventional army were a mechanized and tank force. Mozambique BTR 152's engaged with Rhodesian forces on at least 1 occasion.

These models are by ICM. they went together well but included massive amounts of detail I chose to leave off. A lot of it was interior details that really can't be seen anyway. Painting wise, I have no idea what color Mozambique chose to paint their vehicles. There is some evidence that they utilized a tan scheme. Standard soviet green is always applicable as that was the original color of the vehicles. I choose to do both colors as Mozambique in the 1970's does not strike me as the most organized of countries. The figure is an extra liberation figure I had lying around.

Provost

2007-06-03T10:46:00.000-07:00

The Percival Provost was used by most Commonwealth nations as a basic trainer throughout the 1950-1960's. In Rhodesian service it was used by 4 squadron which was the COIN squadron as well as 6 squadron as basic training aircraft. The Provost's in 4 squadron were modified with hard points on the wings for caring ordnance as well as 30 cal MGs.

This model was the matchbox 1/72 provost. it went together very well. It does come in red and white plastic so a priming coat might be a good idea. I did not and hope the red doesn't show through after a few games. I went ahead and added a liberation miniatures helo pilot to the cockpit. The supplied pilot was perfectly useful but I have to admit this really adds something to the model. One of my favorite aircraft both in terms of building and looks.

Game on 5/30

2007-05-31T19:14:00.000-07:00

The Latest game played. This is a semi historic account of a 1979 sweep by F company of the 4th battalion of the Rhodesia Regiment in the Chungwe valley. It is only semi historical due to the addition of the armoured car. Typically AC's were cross posted to companies of the RR to act in a combined arms function. We used the rules set Fireforce.

Forces involved were 1 Lynx aircraft, 1 Ferret armoured car and 3 sticks of 5 men each for the Rhodesians. Each stick had 4 riflemen and 1 MAG gunner. The 5 man sweep is atypical as far as I know, however during this battle per my source the 4th RR Bn used at least 1 stick of 5 men. I have chosen to use this as a battalion level phenomenon.

Zanla forces consisted of 2 sections of 8 men each, armed with 6 AK 47 's 1 RPK machine gun and 1 RPG per group. I commanded the Zanla forces and Chris H. victor of the last game had The Rhodesians.

The Advance

2007-05-31T18:51:00.000-07:00

The Sweep line advances forward. Expecting to encounter the enemy the Armoured car takes up a flanking position prior to the sticks plunging into the elephant grass.

The firefight

2007-05-31T18:27:00.000-07:00

A failed tactic, The Zanla commander(me) placed the section in heavy cover hoping to ambush the Rhodesians at close range. Losing initiative the Rhodesians spot them first delivering heavy fire and 2 grenades at point blank range . Due to the brittle morale of the guerrilla's the group is routed after a couple of rounds of ineffective return fire.

the retreat of group 1

2007-05-31T18:02:00.000-07:00

The Rhodesian Section Commander calls in a Lynx. The plane arrives in time to strafe the fleeing section as they break into the open. The survivor flee off the board.

The destruction of group 2

2007-05-31T17:52:00.000-07:00

The Rhodesians advance upon the remaining group. The 2nd ZANLA section opens fire as the Rhodesians emerge from the brush. The firing line is involved in a heavy fire fight with the Rhodesians resulting in the only enemy Casualty. Shooting is not as effective as hoped as several RPG rounds go wildly astray. The lynx now makes a strafing run on the ZANLA position, heavily hitting the guerillas. The final sections morale is shaken forcing them to the ground and resulting in ineffective return fire on the Rhodesian Sticks.

The Wrap up

2007-05-31T17:39:00.000-07:00

The final moments of the game. The last of the Zanla section is surrounded and fail their morale test and surrender. Oh well! A fine game with a final score of 13 Kia, 2 surrendered and only 1 escaping vs 1 Rhodesian casualty. Historically accurate but still a fairly heavy shellacking. it could have been a closer game if I hadn't made some major mistakes in setup none the less, an excellent game by my fine opponent.
A final note on the terrain. I was somewhat disappointed with the pictures of the elephant grass. They appear much more glossy than in real life. I also haven't quite got the color right on them so I will be experimenting a little more.

Vampire

2007-05-22T21:16:00.000-07:00

Originally manufactured in the closing days of world war 2, the Vampire was the original Rhodesian jet fighter. Superseded by the Hunter, the Vampire soldiered on in No. 2 squadron until the end of the war. 2 separate versions, the single seat FB.9 and the 2 seat trainer T.11 were used. The FB.9 was in effect a FB.5 version with air conditioning, not the most popular aircraft due to it's age and lack of ejector seats. the FB.9 was mostly retired by 1978. The T.11 and FB. 9 were both used in larger scale external raids.
This model is the Frog 1/72 scale kit. It went together fairly well although I'm no model builder . The one major fault is the pilot, it's so ugly even a mother (or modeler) couldn't love. Save your self the trouble and buy an after market one.