6MMRPC Week Twenty-Two: Repairs and X-Wing

This week I finally finished repairing all of the damage from the move, at least the models that still had all of the parts.  There are a few more that will need more extensive repairs from my spares box.

Paint touch-ups on these.

Had a few broken crew and hatches on these.

I also got a game of X-Wing in with my friend Kevin, his first and my first in several years.  I really can't imagine playing this as competitively as some do, but I understand the depth that it allows.  I'm quite happy to keep it a 'beer and pretzel' type game.

Kevin's TIEs make a head-on attack on one of my Y-Wings!

Jek Porkins scores the first kill vs. a TIE Interceptor!

The game was super fun and I barely took the win.  Out of two X-Wings and two Y-Wings vs. Kevin's three TIE Fighters and two TIE Interceptors, it came down to a single X-Wing vs. a single TIE Interceptor, and I got a lucky four hits to finish the TIE.

6MMRPC Week Twenty-One: Imperial Assault?

I played my first game of Fantasy Flight's Imperial Assault last night and had a very good time.  Only problem: Those minis need paint!  I'm considering making an investment into the game now that I'm back in an area with friends who game, and my usual D&D group is looking for an alternative for when one or more of us can't make it on game night.  I picked up The Grand Inquisitor figure from the Rebels animated series and it's a pretty nice little item.  Only problem is the usual drooping lightsaber blades which I may try to replace.  Joker number two burned, but maybe something completely different will kickstart my painting mojo!

6MMRPC Week Nineteen: Moving In!

Hey, I've finally moved in to the new place enough that I got to unpack my minis.  They've patiently sat in boxes for the last two months while everything else for the new house was taken care of first.  Most of them made in in one piece, but there were a few casualties.  Until I get these repaired and some paint touched up, I won't be cracking into the mountain of lead.

6MMRPC Week Ten: Leaving Las Cruces

I'm all packed up and I'll be on the road Friday for California.  Doubt I'll have anything to post next week, but you never know!

6MMRPC Week Nine: The First Transport is Away!

Sorry I'm rather late this week, I've been continuing the move prep, this time boxing all of my Armada, X-Wing, and painted Flames of War models.  We'll be leaving in one week for California!

Nothing left in the cabinets but dust!

6MMRPC Week Eight: HMG Bunker

So, I had a chance to work on those bunkers from last week a bit more and finished them as far as I can without an airbrush, which is packed in a box somewhere.  Once I get established in our new home, I can finish the gun turrets for the rest of them.
I started by leaving the gray primer color on all of the concrete area, then built up a few layers of varying grays by drybrush.  I then did any detail areas with Vallejo acrylics.  Once that was done, I used a few colors of acrylic wash from Secret Weapon and then did the ground area with washes and dry pigments before adding some static grass and tufts.
I get to count the single finished bunker towards my mountain reduction, but I'll consider the rest almost done.

Rear area with MG port and enfilade walls.

Forward area with MG port.

The two large bases can fit Panther, Panzer IV, T-34, or P-40 turrets, the smaller can fit Panzer II, or several french designs.  The large bunker is for a 5cm KwK gun.

I probably won't have much else to show for a few weeks, almost time to leave Tatooine!

6MMRPC Week Seven: Bunkers In Progress

I managed to get some work in on the bunkers, just need to do a few washes, some weathering, and some basing work still.  I should have these done by next week, minus any guns or turrets since my airbrush is all packed away.

I hate weathering concrete, it never looks right...

6MMRPC Week Six: Building Some Bunkers

While continuing the packing process in preparation for moving, I kept my eye out for projects that I could work on simply, since most of my collection and my airbrush have been boxed up.  I stumbled upon several old bunkers and gun nests that have languished in a forgotten box for several years and I think these should prove to be simple enough to work on without most of my tools.  Hopefully I can get some of these completed by next week.

Two Pantherturms, two gun nests, a 5cm KwK bunker, and a HMG bunker.  

6MMRPC Week Five: Passing Along the Hobby

This was supposed to be the week that I packed up all of my hobby stuff and moved back to California, but we're still waiting on some things for the new house.  That said, my packing was basically done and I didn't really have anything to work on!  I did manage to get a few partially assembled projects primed and put a little bit of paint on a few stands of infantry for a Late War Führer Begleit Brigade list, and helped my seven-year old build his first model, a Zvezda snap-together King from the Pixar Cars movie.  He really loved putting it together and applying the stickers, while I trimmed all of the parts off of the sprue for him.  I remember building my first model when I was about his age and he can't wait for another go at modeling.

Otto-Ernst Remer is an option for the Führer Begleit lists, I updated the Mid War figure by swapping the head and replacing the PPsH with a panzerfaust.  I also started on a command team and an observer.  The figures are a mix of Volksgrenadiers and Begleit.

So far, I've got primer on some Panzer IV/70As, Panzer IV Js, SdKfz 231s, a platoon of armored infantry, some Nebelwerfer crew, and Remer.

Always read the instructions before starting!

The King, all finished and stickered!

6MMRPC Week Four: DAK 2.8cm PzB 41

Mission accomplished, I guess!  I finished the anti-tank rifle that I started last week, having located some suitable spackle at the local hardware store, and was able to get a match to the basing I originally did more than twelve years ago.  The figures painted up quickly and the gun was already painted sometime last decade.  I also finished a barrel swap for a Panzer III, giving me an undergunned, but cheaper HQ tank for my future DAK Panzerkompanie for V4 Flames of War.  This will give me a 75 point force to practice with!

I found my old formula for the basing, fine spackle, Vallejo Khaki paint, and a sprinkle of sand.

Gun and crew by Battlefront.

I downgraded this Panzer III N to a short 5cm KwK armed Panzer III J to squeeze a few points out of the list for V4.

I'm not counting the tank against my mountain since I only had to paint and swap the gun barrel, but the gun counts.  I finally get to subtract something from my pile of lead!  The single stands so far haven't helped thin the numbers, as I only count full platoons of infantry on my inventory sheet.

6MMRPC Week Three: DAK 2.8cm sPzB 41 In Progress

With V4 becoming the new norm for Flames of War I wanted to update my Africa Korps forces to fit the new lists.  Many of my vehicles are so far unusable, but I hope that future lists will help with that soon.  I was able to get a Panzer list together with stuff I already have, I just need to build a single Anti-Tank Rifle for the infantry platoon and swap a few gun barrels on some Panzer IIIs.

I switched back to the long 5cm gun from the short 7.5cm guns I was using previously on the Panzer IIIs.  This is what I'll be trying out at 75 points.  I still need to finish the short 5cm gun on the HQ Panzer III.

I was ready to do the basing on this last night, but my spackle had dried up.  This is now a mandatory item in the infantry platoon.

Nothing finished this week, but there was some progress!

6MMRPC Week Two: Fallschirmjäger Anti-tank Rifle Team

Another week, one more stand to show for it.  I'm trying to finish a few partially started projects before I dive into something more labor intensive, especially with only a few weeks until we pack everything up and move.  I originally started this for a Mid War list, but now with V4 there isn't even a Fallschirmjäger list available for that period.  Hopefully Battlefront will get something together for them within the next few releases, but I can still use it for the Early War list from Burning Empires (I think).

I tried to match the rubble look of my other FJ stands, figures from Battlefront.

Added some striping to the interior wall for some visual interest, wallpaper or something.

Hope I get to use this someday!

One Last Roundup in El Paso

With a move back to California on the horizon, I wanted to get one last event in with the local group of guys.  Alex has taken over the TO responsibilities down at Military Gamer Supply in El Paso and wanted to run a V4 Late War tournament at 1850 points.  I ran my usual 1. Fallschirmjäger troops but used some support items that so far have gone untried with this force.  

In V4 this list would give me five Formation platoons and three Support platoons, making it tough to break.  

The first round would see me going up against Eric and his Soviet Peredovoye Otryad, or Forward Detatchment, in the new Annihilation mission.  I knew this mission would be a tough one for me, as you only win if you break the opponent's Formation.  There are no Objectives.  Two Fearless forces would likely make this a draw.

I deployed my small FJ platoon, the HMGs, and the Marder IIs here in this small patch of trees.

The large FJ platoon,  LG 40s,  Panzerwerfers, and the StuG IIIs would deploy here, with the Mortars in the center.  Two of my StuGs would immediately Bog Down, but I destroyed a couple of Stuarts.

Eric would continue his push down the side of the table, wary of my StuG IIIs.

His T-34/76s would use the other extreme side of the table, safely dodging from tree to tree to avoid the Marder IIs.

The LG 40s would bag a few more Stuarts, weakening their unit, but I would lose the Panzerwerfers.

My sniper would harass Eric's Heavy Mortars for most of the game.

As predicted, we timed out.  So many Soviet tanks and not enough firepower from my side, and too many Fearless infantry for him to dig out for Eric.  I lost my StuG IIIs and Panzerwerfers, and didn't destroy any of his units, making the score 3-1 in Eric's favor.

I learned several things in my first V4 tournament game:  Il-2s are really, really nasty!  They killed all four of my StuGs in one pass...  Tree templates need to be marked with the 2" zone of 'I can still see you', and I will be doing that with my terrain.  Woods terrain pieces will need to become larger to stay effective.  Infantry still can't do much against that many tanks, even if they move further.  Annihilation may not be a tournament mission, unless it's at the end of a long event.

In the second round I would be matched up against Aaron and his Finnish Jääkärikomppania in Counterattack.

I didn't really see myself being able to break through Aaron's defenses so decided to swing most of my force toward the open Objective.  He would move two of his units to counter, and rely on his reserves to assist.

I was able to thin out some of his infantry while it was moving to the objective, and had plenty of firepower to intercept his reserves.

I would lose two StuGs to a combination of T-34/85s and PaK40s, but the rest of my armor would survive.  After a string of disastrous rolls by his infantry, Aaron would concede victory.  

Aaron's Finns were really unlucky in this one, both of his Warriors would roll ones to run off the board.  This would leave him without much to contest the objective and I took this one 8-1.

In the last round I faced Vince and his German Schwere Panzerkompanie with Otto Carius in command.  The mission was Encounter.

Carius and his friends would rampage across the table without anything to fear from my list.  While closing, Carius and Kerscher could ignore modifiers for range and concealment.  They would take out my Panzerwerfers early before reaching my FJs.

I made a pretty solid push on his objective, but reserves move so fast now!  My FJs remained pinned for a turn and that would cost me big time.  Hs 129 B3s are nasty too!  Once my armor was done, so was I.

I had a slim chance here, but the delay sunk me.  I would destroy a battery of 3.7cm FlaK guns, but Vince would win 8-1.

In all, I still find the potential of V4, I just don't think non-mobile infantry have much of a future in a competitive setting.  It's early though, so I could be wrong, of course.  I just think that mobile infantry and armored lists can do everything better, especially since there's no advantage to sitting still now.  I'll be looking at a more mobile list soon, maybe Panzer Lehr or a Desperate Measures Panzer list.

6MMRPC Week One: Fallschirmjäger Sniper

I don't have much to show this week butI consider it a victory.  The store down in El Paso was hosting a V4 event last weekend and I was determined to paint at least this one stand so I could try something new.  He came out pretty good and I was able to dress up the base to match the rest of the army which is now four or five years old.

The figure is from Battlefront, probably from the old Festungskompanie box set from a decade ago.  The base is also from Battlefront's Urban Rubble set.

I bulked up the base with a mix of ballast, stones, and balsa scraps.

Obligatory WIP shot!

It's a small start, but I painted something!

6 Month Mountain Reduction and Painting Challenge- 2017 Edition

Back in 2015 I had the pleasure of participating on the Six Month Mountain Reduction and Painting Challenge, and painted up a pretty fair amount of minis.  Last year there was a three-month version that I failed at completely, but I'm going to give it another go this year, though the first month I'll be prepping for a move back to California and I'm not sure what I'll be able to get worked on.  Rules are similar to previous years:

1. No purchasing of new miniatures, except if you use a Joker.  You get three Jokers to use on a miniature purchase.  Can be a blister pack, an eBay bundle, or a single figure.  The only exception is if you need to buy a single figure to complete a unit.  In addition, you can earn additional Jokers by completing an entire project, complete with starting, WIP, and final pictures.

2. Gifts do not count against you.  Holidays, birthdays, and gift cards given to you do not count against you.

3. Paint, terrain, and hobby supplies do not count against you.

4. At least one hobby-related blog or Instagram post a week.

5. Zombie-related stuff during October is encouraged. 

I'd like to finish a few partially built items for my Flames of War Fallschimjäger, get started in V4 Mid War Flames of War, and maybe get to some Star Wars Armada ships.  It might be really slow until I get moved next month, but I hope it picks up from there!

Great War British Mark IV

The Heavy Tank platoon can include Mark IV tanks in either the male or female versions, either OQF 6 pounder guns or Vickers machine guns.  I magnetized the sponsons so Sam could switch them easily.

Mark IV Male with OQF 6 pounder guns and Vickers machine guns.

Tried to keep the weathering simple.

Mark IV Female with only Vickers machine guns.

Great War British Mark A Whippet

The Medium Tank Platoon consists of one to five Mark A Whippet tanks, armed with multiple machine guns.  I chose to model this tank as A233 'Crossmichael', which saw action in August, 1918.

I tried to make it a little dirty, without it being a mess.

Great War British OQF 18 pounder Field Battery

These 18 pounders are the best option to counter armor in the Great War era, and can be fielded in a unit of one, two, three, or six.  The smaller Detachment doesn't have a command team, but the larger Battery does.

The guns, crew and caisson fill the base nicely, without feeling cramped.

Painted the fourth gun for 1940 lists.

Great War British 3" Stokes Trench Mortar Platoon

These Trench Mortars can be fielded from one to four stands per platoon.  Here's a whole battery of four.

I wish BF would've added in some ammunition canisters or something, the big bases look so empty.

Four guns, no command team in sight.  Looks like Flames of War V4!

Great War British .303 Vickers HMG Platoons

Next up for the British are two platoons of .303 Vickers HMGs, one by Battlefront, the other by Peter Pig.

The Battlefront offering is nicer, and came with four guns.  I mixed up a few command figures for variety.

Peter Pig only gives you three guns and I had to scrounge for a command team.  The figs look like they're in 1940 BEF gear.

These painted up pretty easily.