Blog – Page 8 – Steve’s Hobby Blog

To find PVA glue, click here:

GLUES AND ADHESIVES

Perry’s WOTR plastic range are here, including some nice army deals!

You can see our Woodlands scenics range, including water effects, here:

WOODLAND SCENICS

Gamers grass tufts can be found here:

GAMERS GRASS

Vallejo plastic filler and Milliput is available here:

MDF bases can be found here:

You can find all the Vallejo Model colour paints here. If you don’t want to browse, just enter the paint number into the shop search bar;

Happy Modelling!

Hidden Ditch!

The next piece of scenery that I have made for my NMTB’s project is the ‘Hidden Ditch’ piece to represent the special event card ‘Terrain Advantage’. First I took a base – actually, it was a spare base to a movement tray and at 180mm long and 60mm wide, overlaps the length of the average unit. I wanted the ditch to look hidden, so I built up the front of the base with a piece of scrap balsa. I then added the rest of the ‘landscaping’ using standard milliput.

Ditch, covered with texture & rocks added.

I neglected to take a picture of the base under construction but you can see the base above with the milliput and balsa now coated with a thick coat of Vallejo Dark earth texture paste to blend everything together. I’ve also added some ‘rocks’ – pebbles from my garden and some ballast for additional detail and texture. I then painted everything with my usual basing emulsion colour and dry brushed it all to bring out the different textures. The base of the ditch was left smooth and I also painted this with a darker colour to give the illusion of depth.

Hidden Ditch under construction

As you can see from the picture above, I wanted to add a ‘casualty’ to the scenery, so I converted a Perry’s Bill man by sanding down the front of the figure to make him lie flat in the ditch. I then cut and repositioned (with pliers! – it’s suprising how much you can bend plastic figures!) the arms and legs to make him look as though he had fallen. The arrow was carefully snipped from the arrows on the command frame and the body drilled to take the arrow.

casualty for the ditch

Once the casualty was dry, I just retested the fit into the ditch and filled any large gaps with Vallejo plastic putty.

Casualty in ditch – scatter added to the banks

As well as the scatter, I also added a variety of Gamers grass tufts. I used a mixture of the 12mm long jungle, light green and dry green tufts as well as the shorter 6mm dry green tufts. The casualty was painted to my standard method, covered in my previous blogs. I used a red and white livery as I don’t have any of my troops in these colours!

Tufts added to the ditch

I think that the effect is better when seen at table top level – you can see that there is a barrier of some sorts but not actually see the ditch. I was quite pleased with the way that this has worked out but it is not quite finished. I am going to add some acrylic ‘deep pour water’ to the ditch to make it look even more realistic. However, this product is quite expensive, so rather than purchase it just for the ditch, I intend to make a bit more scenery for my table. I am planning to make at least a couple of ponds and once these are completed, I will add the water. With another lockdown about to start, I cant see me gaming for a while, so there is no rush. Meanwhile, My next project – Medieval Tents is well underway – more on those in the next blog!

Hidden Ditch!

THE COMMERCIAL BIT

Almost all of the paints, miniatures, bases, basing materials and anything that you are likely to need for your hobby are available POST FREE from my shop here:

Perry’s WOTR plastic range are here, including some nice army deals!

You can see our Woodlands scenics range, including water effects, here:

WOODLAND SCENICS

Gamers grass tufts can be found here:

GAMERS GRASS

Vallejo plastic filler and Milliput is available here:

MDF bases can be found here:

You can find all the Vallejo Model colour paints here. If you don’t want to browse, just enter the paint number into the shop search bar;

Happy Modelling!

Arrow Barrow and more!

The launch of ‘Never Mind the Billhooks’ has caused plenty of excitement and prompted me to add a few more pieces to my army. I was still three figures short of completing my Cavalry contingent, which gave me a nice excuse to go shopping at the Perry’s…

Salisbury, Richard of York and Warwick

The three mounted figures complete two units of eight mounted Knights and give me a spare mounted commander to lead my light horse or another Ward if required. The pack that I choose contained models of Richard, Duke of York, Salisbury and Warwick.

Warwick, the King Maker!

I particularly liked the Warwick figure and decided that he would be one of my commanders. I painted the horses using the tutorial from Art Master Studio on you tube. It’s a bit long winded, but very good. I actually followed along when it came to painting the dapple grey that Warwick is mounted on. I used exactly the same colours listed in the video and the other ‘triples that Toby suggests also work really well.

Warwick turned out quite nicely so I decided to give him leaders base and a standard bearer. I still have half a box of Perry plastic WOTR infantry, so it was a simple assembly and paint job, following my usual process. I used a photocopy of the flag in the instruction sheet.

Warwick and Standard

I had also ordered a wagon from the Perry’s with the idea of using this to represent the ‘Extra Arrow Supply’ special event card. It would make a nice piece of battlefield scenery regardless. Assembly and painting this model was very straight forward and I went for a functional plain wooden finish for the wagon. I used Vallejo ‘Old Wood 310 with a few washes and dry brush coats to bring out the detail.

Perry Wagon being based

Wagon completed!

Whilst chatting to Andy Callan about the subject he pointed me in the direction of a picture in the Osprey ‘English Bowmen’ which showed a soldier re supplying the troops with a barrow of some description. I thought that it would be fun to make something similar – an Arrow Barrow! If you click on the link below, arrows (2), you can see the picture and Andy’s notes!

arrows (2)

I used a figure from the Perry’s set and did a bit of minor converting. The pose was pretty close to someone wheeling a barrow so the only changes needed to the torso was to carve away a bag that was in the way. I then used an Archers hand for the right side and a bill mans hand for the left side. I had to do a bit of re positioning and filling but it all went together quite well.

Arrow barrow under construction

As for the Arrow Barrow itself, I just used some scrap plastic card, a bit from my spares box for the wheel (A shirt button with the holes filled in would have done the job!) and some plastic rod and strip to build something that looked like a medieval wheel barrow. I’ve no idea how accurate it is!

Ready for priming once the filler is sanded down!

The load is made up of the canvas arrow bags that come with the Perry’s Light Cavalry set that I had spare in the bits box. One of my friends remarked that they looked like marrows…I quite like the idea that Baldric was sent to get arrows and came back with marrows….’Baldric run and get some arrows’.

Wagon and Arrow barrow completed!

Next up, I started work on the ‘Hidden Ditch’ special event card. I thought that it would be a nice terrain piece regardless as to whether I used it in Bill hooks. I’ll show you how this project went in my next blog!

THE COMMERCIAL BIT

Almost all of the paints, miniatures, bases, basing materials and anything that you are likely to need for your hobby are available POST FREE from my shop here:

Perry’s WOTR plastic range are here, including some nice army deals!

You can see our range of Evergreen plastic strip and Rod here:

Valejo plastic filler is available here:

MDF bases can be found here:

You can find all the Vallejo Model colour paints here. If you don’t want to browse, just enter the paint number into the shop search bar;

Happy Modelling!

Stokes Field- The Prequel

At last, I managed to get a war game in before the latest lockdown! I joined up with Andy Callan, his brother, Ian and Mark Lodge of Jacklex miniatures for a full day and evening of wargaming this past weekend.

One of the battles that we fought during the weekend was a War of the Roses battle using the Never Mind The Bill Hooks rules. It seemed sensible to use the latest scenario that Andy had written for Wargames Illustrated, issue 394, ‘The one about the ‘Englishman, Irishman and the German’. It is based on a fictional scouting encounter just prior to the main event at Stokes Field, the final battle in the War of the Roses.

I’ve mentioned that both Andy and myself live in Bingham, just a few miles down the road from the village of East Stoke. I have visited the battlefield on a number of occasions, most recently, just a couple of weeks ago. I doubt that things have changed very much over the intervening centuries since the battle. The River Trent may be more constrained by it’s banks now but follows a similar route. The hedgerows may have changed but the lie of the land will be much the same.

Stokes field - the view to Hoveringham and the Trent

Stokes field – the view to Fiskerton and the Trent. It’s possible that the rebels camped in the far field to the right of Fiskerton (the white dots on the left of the picture!) the night before the battle.

Ideal Marching country – not so good when you are running from cavalry!

It looks like an ideal place for a battle as there are no major obstacles or hills, just a typical piece of gently rolling English countryside. You can see for miles in some spots, particularly as the ground rises away from the Trent above East Stoke. The view can be deceptive though. There are enough rises and folds in the ground to hide an army and some places where the land falls sharply is treacherous, if you are not careful. What was a minor inconvenience when you are advancing in good order would be a death trap when retreating in panic. A good example is the so called ‘Red Gutter’ where the rebels were cut down as they routed.

The drop down to the ‘Red Gutter’

The Red Gutter at Stokes Field

I think that the above picture shows the entrance to the ‘Red Gutter’ – an enclosed lane at the base of the rising ground behind the battle field, on the retreat route to the safety of the Trent crossing at Fiskerton.

And so onto our game. We more or less followed the orders of Battle and additional special rules that are detailed in the article, with Ian and Mark playing as the loyal Lancastrians and myself leading the rebel Yorkist alliance!

The deployment

I deployed my mixed contingent along the ridge line with the Irish Kern skirmishers holding the village, the archers and Gallowglass holding the centre and the German hand gunners in cover in the woods. Out of shot, Lord Lovell was leading the light Horse protecting the flank of the village. Facing them was a powerful force of Bows and Billmen as well as a unit of light horse and a group of skirmishing archers.

The Lancastrian army, a strong force of Bows and bills were massed on the baseline with their light horse facing mine. In the maneuver phase I decided to redeploy my light horse and moved them across to the right flank where there was more room to threaten the Lancastrian foot units. I decided that the kern were well placed in the village to defend the left flank. A protracted movement phase then continued, where the Lancastrian light horse advanced to the village and then withdrew without causing any consternation. Meanwhile, Lord Lovell had led his light horse to the far right flank of the Lancastrians and supported by the now advancing German hand gunners caught the Lancastrian bows and bills in some confusion. The Light horse charged home into the flank of the Lancastrian’s, routing them and their leader from the field! Game over with out even resorting to the cards!

We started again. This time the Lancastrians were not going to be caught by a sucker punch and they advanced to use their superior archery force to beat back the rebels!

Game number 2! The Lancastrians aren’t messing now!

This game was more of a match, with Lancastrian Archers wiping out both units of kern skirmishers, daunting a block of bows and Gallowglass and whittling down the rebel army. Once again, Lord Lovell and his light horse were able to save the day with a rather dodgy counter charge through Lovell’s own evading skirmishers…On reflection, the counter charge should not have happened, as whilst it wasn’t explicitly against the rules, it certainly pushed the spirit of them. With Lord Lovell on the loose again, the Lancastrian flank was tied up, allowing the Gallowglass unit in the centre to force a charge home against the bills and bows there.

Memorial at East Stoke Church

Whilst vulnerable against archery, the Gallowglass are formidable in combat and they were able to carve through the centre units of Lancastrian Bows and Bills causing enough casualties to collapse the Lancastrian army morale. Another very close victory for the rebels. Unfortunately, as I became more involved in the battle, I forgot to take pictures! However, after a post battle VAR check, over a beer or three, the general consensus was that although the Rebels were deemed to have won on the night, a review of the match play meant that at least an honourable draw would have been a fairer result!

Story board from the battlefield

In the post battle review, the counter charge by Lord Lovells light cavalry had certainly influenced the out come of the battle, perhaps unfairly so. Also mixing English bowmen and Irish Gallowglass in a block, whilst again, within the rules, is probably stretching things even though they were obliged to follow the ‘Brexit rule’ to check if they could pass through each other! It’s a point that will be addressed in the expanded rules and I wont cover it here. That said, the lack of initiative and undue caution by the Lancastrians caused many of their own problems. There were opportunities to kill off units that were just not taken. The archery proved to be dominant in the early stages of the battle but some units ran out of arrows and perhaps Mark was a tad unlucky at one point when rolling 30 dice needing a 5 or 6, he only managed 4 hits…Damp bowstrings I think!

Great fun though – next time I’ll take more pictures!

THE COMMERCIAL BIT

Almost all of the paints, miniatures, bases, basing materials and anything that you are likely to need for your hobby are available POST FREE from my shop here:

Perry’s WOTR plastic range are here, including some nice army deals!

WARGAMES ILLUSTRATED ISSUE 393

Happy Modelling!

Never Mind The Bill Hooks Scenery

I’ve still yet to start gaming and to make matters worse, my figures for NMTBH’s are on loan at Wargames Illustrated, so I cant even play a solo game! It’s all a bit frustrating, particularly now that the rule set is out in the public domain and other people appear to be having great fun with it! The upside is that the Facebook page and blogs have been a source of inspiration and there have been some great ideas out there to ‘borrow’. One of these is a custom arrow storm counter. It’s so obvious, I cant think why we haven’t made them before but we just relied on a dice next to the unit. Functional, but not so pretty!

Arrow counters

So as a side project I made up enough counters for my four archer units. I had some micro dice from a kids game in my stash. I also had a couple of spare command frames from the Perry’s WOTR infanty that have the spare arrow groups. It was a simple matter of combining these with a 25mm round MDF base to make the counter. I just covered the base in Milliput and whilst it was still wet, pressed the dice into it to get the correct sized dice cavity. To keep the dice from being covered in Milliput, I wrapped it in cling film. I then pressed in the arrow group from the Command frame.

arrows on the Command Frame

Once that was done, it was left to dry, spray primed and then a thin coat of Vallejo dark earth texture paste was spread over the base to tie everything together and a bit of ballast added for extra detail. I then painted it with my usual basing paint, added some Green Flock and tufts to finish. The arrows were painted with Iraqi Sand for the shafts and white for the feathers.

Hidden Ditch by Andy Callan.

The next diversion was inspired by Andy Callan. He decided that it would be fun to have some scenery pieces to represent some of the special event cards so that we could add them to the table if they were played. Andy had made a piece for the ‘Terrain Advantage’ card – a hidden ditch. Andy had also added a touch of humour – a couple of Coots swimming in it! The picture above is stolen from Facebook, hopefully Andy wont mind!

A new cart for my Army!

That started me thinking that perhaps a marker or piece of terrain for the special event cards would be good fun and an excuse to add to my collection. The ‘Extra Arrow Supply’ prompted me to order a cart (I already have one, but any excuse…) to load up with extra arrows so that it can make an appearance on the table if called for. I also liked the idea of making a terrain piece full of arrows to represent ‘Fauconbergs Gambit’. All I had to do was to make some arrows.

Evergreen Rod & Strip for arrows

I had some Evergreen rod that looked about right – pack 211, .040″ width. With hindsight, it is a bit on the thick side and a slightly smaller diameter would have been better. But I used what I had rather than wait for the better solution. To make the arrow flights, I again used Evergreen strip, this time .040 wide by .010 thick – pack #102. I cut the strip into lengths about 3mm – 4mm long and then using a sharp scalpel blade cut them into triangles. It was a bit fiddly but surprisingly quick to do. I then used Tamiya liquid poly to coat the top of the rod and using the point of the scalpel, picked up a ‘flight’ and attached it to the arrow shaft. Once three flights were attached, I clipped the arrow off and started on the next one. Again, it sounds fiddly but once I got into the rhythm, it only took 30 minutes or so to make over twenty arrows.

Arrow production line!

I then had a spare MDF base that I covered in Milliput and simply pressed the arrows into the milliput. Again, after priming, Vallejo textured paste was used to tie everything together and cover any imperfections and the usual paint scheme followed to finish the arrows and terrain. I’m not sure whether I will get to use it in battle, but it will be fun to slap that piece off scenery down, along with the card, if I get the chance to play it!

Testing the arrows layout!

The finished piece.

So I am now thinking of other little additions to make in between my other painting projects. My version of the hidden ditch is already in the planning stage, and the ‘False Colours’ or ‘Treachery!’ cards could be represented by a flag with the Stanley colours on them! I also need to make some tents to hold my Army Morale markers, so that should keep me busy for a while. I quite like the idea of the symbolism of adding something to the table when playing the special cards. However, I think that taking a water spray bottle to represent ‘Sudden Heavy Rain Shower!’ may be a step too far….

New gaming pieces fr NMTBH’s

THE COMMERCIAL BIT

If you have yet to get your copy of Wargames Illustrated, including the free copy of Never Mind the Bill Hooks Rules set, we still have some of stock at the time of writing. It’s available, post free here!

But it’s selling quickly so don’t hang around!

Almost all of the paints, miniatures, bases, basing materials and anything that you are likely to need for your hobby are available POST FREE from my shop here:

Perry’s WOTR plastic range are here, including some nice army deals!

You can see our range of Evergreen plastic strip and Rod here:

Milliput is available here:

MDF bases can be found here:

You can find all the Vallejo Model colour paints here. If you don’t want to browse, just enter the paint number into the shop search bar;

Happy Modelling!

Painting WW2 British Infantry

I thought that it might be useful to document a step by step guide to painting WW2 British infantry, as much for my own reference but I hope that it might be useful for other wargamers. The figures that I am using are Crusader Miniatures British infantry. I wanted some additional troops for my growing BEF force and fancied a bit of variety from the superb Warlord BEF figures. The Crusader miniatures are every bit as good, both in terms of sculpting and casting and completely compatible size wise. However, I had made a mistake in thinking that these were early war as opposed to the Late War packs in the Crusader Miniatures range. I am by no means an expert on uniforms of WW2 but these figures are missing the gas mask pack worn on the chest, the rifle bandoleer and the entrenching tool is a two piece item rather than the earlier one piece. I suspect that this means that a purist would say that they are not suitable to join my BEF force. Fortunately, I am by no means a purist and they look great, so they are in the platoon!

The picture above shows four of the figures, cleaned up, primed with leather brown Army Painter spray, attached to Sarissa 25mm MDF bases and the first vallejo colour applied, Vallejo Flat Flesh 70955. Unless specified, all of the paints used are from the Vallejo model colour range.

All of the uniform is painted with Burnt Umber 70941.

The helmets and water bottle are painted with 70887 US olive drab.

The webbing, packs, belt and gaiters are painted with 70988 Khaki.

The rifles and entrenching tool handle were painted with German Cam. Black Brown 70822. I also paint the hair with the same colour – not that there is much to see!

The detail on the rifles, bayonet cover and boots were painted Black 70950.

The faces, hands, Helmets, water bottle and all khaki were painted over with Army painter soft tone ink. It doesn’t matter if you get some on the uniform, you will be over painting this in future steps

The uniforms were painted with English uniform 70921, leaving the burnt umber in the shadows and creases.

The Helmets and water bottles were repainted with 70887 US Olive drab, leaving some of the shading at the base of the helmet and around the webbing of the water bottle. All the Khaki, except the gaiters was repainted, again, leaving the shadows caused by the soft tone ink. I decided to leave the Gaiters a dirtier dark colour.

The Webbing and packs are highlighted with German Camouflage Beige 70821. The wood on the rifles highlighted with flat brown 70984.

The uniform is highlighted on the tops of the creases with 70880 Khaki Grey.

The flesh is highlighted with Flat Flesh 70855 and then skin tome70815. The rifles and shovel handle highlighted with 70846 Mahogany Brown.

The flesh is highlighted with Flat Flesh 70855 and then skin tone70815. The rifles and shovel handle highlighted with 70846 Mahogany Brown.

Bases painted with Dehli Bazaar Brown emulsion and then highlighted with an Iraqui sand mix. Sprinkled with Woodlands Scenics green grass T1349.

Crusader and Warlord WW2 British Infantry

And that’s another section completed – well nearly. They need a bren gun team to join them – I’ll get that painted later. Here’s a final shot of the two sections that I now have completed. On the right, the warlord figures, on the left, Crusader. They are in Movement trays for organisational and display purposes. If they ever do take to the table, the movement trays wont be in use.

THE COMMERCIAL BIT

Almost all of the paints, miniatures, bases, basing materials and anything that you are likely to need for your hobby are available POST FREE at the time of writing, from my shop here:

WARLORD GAMES WW2 BRITISH

You can find the Warlord Games WW2 British sets ( including the Dads Army set) here;

we carry a huge range of Vallejo paint and accessories here:

VALLEJO

Sarissa bases and movement trays are available here:

BASES AND MOVEMENT TRAYS

Crusader miniatures are available from North Star Games or from Arcane via special order email.

Happy Modelling!

Ramblings from the work bench

My wargaming activities are still very much curtailed by the COVID19 restrictions and as a result our gaming group has not met to roll dice for some time now. It’s a shame really as ‘Never Mind The Bill Hooks’ has been released to very positive reviews and were we gaming, I suspect that we would be running through all sorts of different scenarios. No doubt, this would have led me into painting even more units for the WOTR era, maybe a unit of early German Landsknechts to add to my mercenary contingent. Possibly some Irish, so that I could re fight Stokes field.

Tamiya 1/48th Scale V1

As it is I have been spending my time working through my lead pile/kit collection and finishing off projects that have been lurking on the work bench for a while now. A good example of this is the 1/48th scale model of the V1 flying bomb from Tamiya. I built and primed it about two years ago but never actually got around to finishing it. The lack of gaming and other such distractions meant that I finally finished this model off.

HMS VICTORY – an Airfix kit

I also built HMS Victory – an Aifix kit that I had picked up for a fiver from Aldi or Lidl a while back. It was a nice change to be building something completely different to my normal output. Both the V1 and HMS Victory are part of my plans for a larger collection. One of the drivers for my hobby is my need to ‘collect things’! They also form part of my interest of history in general. So HMS Victory now joins the Mary Rose as part of a collection of iconic ships from history that I may eventually build and put into the cabinet!

HMS Victory and Mary Rose

Likewise, the V1 is just the start of an (imaginary) collection of German ‘super weapons’, which will include a V2, Maus and selection of some of the operational German Jets. I actually already have some of the jets in 1/72nd scale from a previous time in my modelling history but I might just ‘upgrade’ them to 1/48th scale as well.

M163, Hs162 and Horton jet Bomber in 1/72nd scale.

I have still been painting Early WW2 British Infantry, albeit slowly. I dont have a specific plan for gaming with these. It’s another ‘collection’ that I am working on, sparked by painting the Dads Army set. I would like to have at least a full platoon of early WW2 British infantry, along with a few more Home Guard units. So the most recent addition to my painted figure collection is Corporal Jones in his Civvies.

Corporal Jones in his civilian outfit!

So, like my collection at the moment, this blog post is a bit of a ramble. I do have a cunning plan to pull all of my collections together though, but that’s another story for another time!

THE COMMERCIAL BIT

If you have yet to get your copy of Wargames Illustrated with the free Never Mind the Bill Hooks rules, we still have plenty of stock at the time of writing. It’s available, post free here!

WARGAMES ILLUSTRATED ISSUE 393

But it’s selling quickly so don’t hang around!

Almost all of the paints, miniatures, bases, basing materials and anything that you are likely to need for your hobby are available POST FREE from my shop here:

PINTEREST BOARD FOR WAR OF THE ROSES

Happy Modelling!

Samurai Scenery.

Whilst looking in my display cabinet I noticed that there were some pieces of scenery that were not actually painted. I had acquired them just as I lost interest in painting Samurai and moved on to WAr of the Roses! As I am currently on a mission to reduce my lead pile and to complete all of these odd projects that I started and never finished, I thought that I would complete these pieces in between painting World War Two British Infantry.

The painting required was minimal, more a case of basing the pieces up and adding paint where required! The Temple dogs are resin pieces from Ainstey Castings. Once they had been washed and dried, I under coated them with a stone texture spray. They were then given a liberal wash using Army Painter Strong Tone ( brown ink) before dry brushing with Vallejo Stone Grey, mixed with white after the initial dry brush coat. I then based them on MDF bases, attaching them using the Vallejo Dark Earth texture paste and finished the basing using my usual method.

Temple Dogs from Ainstey Castings

The two garden lanterns are 3d printed scenery – I think from Iron Gate Scenery. Once undercoated, I simply painted them red, with black brown for the lanterns. The ‘lights’ were just yellow painted straight onto the lamp area. When dry, I carefully dry brushed this area with black brown and the grid was then picked out. They were based exactly as above, on 30mm round MDF bases.

Garden Lanterns

The last item was a Buddha statue. I was given this by Jaz, who found it in a gift shop and I think that it is more of a lucky charm or gift item. Although bit gaudy, I was happy to leave it as supplied and based it up with a random blossom tree that was also ‘kicking around at the back of the display cabinet. Once again, I just ‘plonked’ it onto the base and finished it as above. I added some nice red flowers to keep to the rather bright theme and another piece is ready for a game.

Happy Buddha and blossom tree.

Here’s a picture of all the pieces together with a Sarissa Temple and some of my other scenery and figures. I think that they all work together and should I find my way back to my Samurai project, or play Test of Honour, they will look good on the wargames table.

Temple Shrine and Garden

THE COMMERCIAL BIT

I dont actually sell any of the above but I do have a nice Samurai section in my shop, including the latest sets from Grey for Now Games!

SAMURAI

Of course, we do have most of the Paints, scatter and MDF bases in the Arcane Scenery shop:

THE ARCANE SCENERY SHOP

Happy Modelling!

Never Mind the Bill Hooks Update

Never mind the Billhooks!

I had already written a blog post for this week but it seemed strange to be posting about Japanese scenery when the real hot news was the release of the new rules set’ Never Mind the Bill Hooks’, which is being given away free with the September issue of Wargames Illustrated. So a quick change of plan! The Japanese scenery article can wait until next week!

At Last – Never Mind The Bill Hooks is in Print!

Regular readers of my blog ( if I have any!) will know that I spent most of 2019 collecting and painting my War Of the Roses army and play testing ‘Bill Hooks’ with my gaming group, which of course, includes Andy Callan, the Rules Writer and Pete Harris, who as well as me, supplied the bulk of the painted figures that illustrated the rules set.

This months Wargames Illustrated, Issue 393 with free ‘Bill Hooks’ Rule Set.

Covid19 has curtailed any gaming activity for the time being – although we might start with a new Scenario that Andy has written for next months issue of WI, a small skirmish as a prequel to the Battle at Stokes Field. As regards painting, my War Of The Roses contingent is more or less complete. I have a mind to paint three more mounted command figures and of course, I will add the WI ‘Giants in Miniature’ Lord Callan to my collection. Other than that, my army is complete. As well as supplying the figures for photography, I also wrote an article showing how to paint your retinue.

Never mind the Bill Hooks Painting article by your truly!

As there is such a positive response to the release of ‘Bill Hooks’ I thought that I would just provide a few links to some of the Blog Posts that I had written in the course of the Bill Hooks project. The posts include a couple of battle reports, painting articles and references, details of how and why I put my force together and some of the Historical sites that I have visited. The posts are all to be found in the WOTR category here:

WAR OF THE ROSES

I thought that it also might be helpful to point you in the direction of my Pinterest board devoted to War of The Roses. If you are not using Pinterest, I would recommend it as a great way of collecting useful reference pictures so that you can find them when you need them!

If you haven’t found it already, there is now a Facebook group for ‘Bill Hooks’. Even better, Andy Callan is checking in and will answer any queries that you may have regarding the rules.

NEVER MIND THE BILL HOOKS FACEBOOK GROUP

As well as Facebook, if you are not in a forum, I very much recommend the Lead Adventure Forum. I find it to be very positive and encouraging, with plenty of help available if you need it. I think that there will be a ‘Bill Hooks’ thread but for now, head to the Medieval Boards.

LEAD ADVENTURE FORUM

Finally, if you are interested in the original inspiration for the rules, here’s a link to a blog post written in 2016, ‘Rules For Old Wargamers With Short Attention Spans’. They were designed for the Black Powder era as a set of Skirmish rules. The rules are available as a free PDF.

RULES FOR OLD WAR GAMERS WITH SHORT ATTENTION SPANS

I hope that you have as much enjoyment and fun as we have had, both in collecting and painting your Army and of course playing the game. Remember, it is a game, not a re enactment and I think that you will have more fun if you create an army, based on the period but with your own commanders.

Harry Hotspur Leads his retinue into battle!

THE COMMERCIAL BIT

If you have yet to get your copy of Wargames Illustrated, we still have plenty of stock at the time of writing. It’s available, post free here!

WARGAMES ILLUSTRATED ISSUE 393

But it’s selling quickly so don’t hang around!

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Happy Modelling!

BEF Section and Vickers VIb completed

I’ve had quite a productive couple of weeks since my last blog, with a number of projects moving towards completion. The Vickers VIb is now more or less there. I still have to add some stowage but I have yet to find exactly what I need for this or take the time to make it from scratch. However, I have completed the weathering and added some markings. The decals are sourced from Warlord Games and supplemented with some hand painting. I also added the aerial and flag – another cut down 50mm spear from Arcane Scenery, the flag is just paper. So for now, I’m calling this one done.

VIckers VIb

Vickers VIb other side!

It’s worth pointing out that the markings that I have used are conjectural, and I have used a number of different picture references of tanks to come up with the layout. To be fair, the experts aren’t really sure of the markings used as there doesn’t seem to be a standard layout. The white squares do indicate that the tank is part of the BEF in France.

I’ve also completed the first BEF section along with a movement tray that is really just to facilitate display and to help organise my force for when I get to using them in a game

BEF section in their ‘movement tray’.

Bren Team

Also now complete and based are the HQ section comprising of a 2 inch Mortar:

2 inch Mortar Team

and the Boyes Anti Tank Gun:

Boyes AT Gun Team

The HQ is a man short, with just three figures at present. I’m on the lookout for a medic or spare man to make up the numbers.

HQ section

The last unit that I’ve added is the Vickers HMG as a support, which means that I have completely finished the Warlord Games BEF boxed set. I’m not entirely happy with the Vickers gun and may revisit it but for now, it will do!

Vickers Gun Team

I’ve also been busy basing up my Dad’s Army Home guard Platoon, using one of the ‘new’ scenic MDF bases from Sarissa. The main characters all fit into the ‘sabot’ bases that I have made and can be removed should I decide to game with them.

Dads Army on Display Base

I’ve also transferred the Vicar, Verger and Warden to renedra paved bases, so they look more at home.

Vicar, Verger and Warden

Finally, I’ve made a start on a Home guard Smith gun. The crew are complete and the gun needs weathering and the set basing.

Smith Gun for Home Guard – W.I.P.

Smith Gun (2) – the other side!

I still haven’t worked out whether I will game with these figures or I am just collecting them for my display cabinet. The thought of painting another 20 BEF figures isn’t as attractive as painting a few more tanks and weapon sets, such as the 2pdr AT gun or some of the quirky home guard weapons, the Blacker bombard and Northover projector. I suspect it will be a mixture of all three!

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Blitzkrieg tanks – what scale should I choose?

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50MM SPEARS

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Happy Modelling!

Vickers VIB Light Tank

Now that I have started my BEF force, it seemed sensible to add a tank as a support. One of the most numerous tanks supplied to the BEF at the start of the war was the Vickers VI mark B. Armed with a 0.303 machine gun and a 0.5 inch Vickers heavy machine gun and with a maximum speed of 35 mph, it was a useful recon vehicle but somewhat under gunned and under armoured compared to the contemporary German tanks that it would be facing. That aside, it is a lovely little tank, full of character and a nice subject for my collection. My first decision was to decide on what scale I would use.

The 1/48th scale Blitzkrieg Vickers VIB as supplied.

The common scale used by Warlord and Rubicon, and as a result, by many war gamers, is 1/56th scale. In theory, this should match the ‘scale’ of 28mm figures. However, I find that most war gaming figures are closer to 30mm in size and due to the manufacturing process, tend to be more ‘chunky’ than a true 1/56th scale figure would be. By the time that you mount figures on a base, I think that they look on the large size compared to the vehicles. I also have grand ideas of building a collection of 1/48th aircraft, so with all this in mind, I went for a 1/48th scale Vickers produced by Blitzkrieg Miniatures. You can see more on my thoughts as to what scale is best for your figures in a previous blog here:

Vickers tank – Profile publications

Colour Schemes for Vickers in Profile magazine

As usual, the next task was to do some research on the tank and it’s colour scheme. I have quite a few old Military Modelling magazines in my collection and I was pleased to find that I had a couple of really good articles describing the tank and modelling the tank in 1/35th scale. I also had an old tank profile publication devoted to the Vickers. It is an old publication, now long OOP, I suspect. My copy still has the price of five shillings on the cover! I also did some research on the internet and there is no shortage of reference, both in terms of pictures and videos. The challenge for me was to convert this knowledge into a wargaming model rather than a massively detailed scale modelling project. The Blitzkrieg model is good enough to paint and use straight on the wargames table but I wanted to add some detail so that it looked good in the display cabinet.

Article from Military Modelling collectors edition #16

Modelling the Vickers VI in 1/35th scale from the same magazine

There were four areas where I thought a bit of detail would enhance the model. The drivers mirror is an obvious feature that is impossible to mould onto a resin cast kit. The Aerial platform at the rear of the turret is also missing. The muzzle of the 0.5inch machine gun is also not moulded onto the kit. The final ‘missing’ detail is the lack of tools or stowage – to be fair, from the pictures that I have seen, the Vickers did not seem to be carrying much in the way of stowage. Certainly not the amount that you see on tanks later on in the war.

Drivers mirror, Muzzle and aerial added to model.

My approach to modelling these details was to represent them rather than attempt to make scale replicas. So for the drivers mirror, I used a 50mm metal spear! It looked about the right thickness and is rigid enough to withstand a bit of wear and tear on the war games table. I just cut it to about the right length using the pictures as a reference. I then cut out a small bit of 20/000 thou plastic card of about the right size for the mirror, using a file to gently round the edges. I drilled the hull in about the right place and using Expo thick super glue with accelerator, glued the assembly into position.

The aerial platform – some sanding and shaping needed!

I took the same ‘cavalier’ attitude to making the aerial platform. I used a piece of 20/000 plasticard cut to about the right size and glued it to the back of the turret in about the right place. I then used another piece of the 50mm spear to make the support and again used super glue to fix it in position. To make the aerial holder/cover I cut a piece of plastic tube to about the right size, sanded the top to a curve and then filled it with Vallejo putty. Once dry, I again sanded it to the curved shape. I will add the whip aerial, using thin brass rod or stretched sprue, once I have finished the painting.

Close up of the 0.5 inch machine gun muzzle.

I then made the muzzle of the 0.50 Vickers gun using a piece of plastic rod. To get the cone shape, I put the rod into my trusty hand drill and spinning it around, used some sand paper to produce a cone shape at the end. I then cut this off and stuck it into the gun mount. This extra work took around an hour or so and would have been even quicker if I had not had to make at least two copies of the bits as I kept dropping them on the floor and losing them. I’m convinced that there’s a spider under my work bench that shares my hobby and is collecting the bits that I drop!

I’m leaving the stowage until after I have finished the painting. I’m trying to decide whether to buy some ready made stowage or just make some out of milliput and spares. I’ll probably go for the latter option but feel happy adding this to the finished model.

Model primed in Vallejo Black primer.

Onto painting. I should mention that the first job that I did was to wash the model in warm soapy water using an old tooth brush to give it a good scrub down before I started any modelling. With resin tanks, this is vital, as the silicon mold release agent will cause your paint to flake if you don’t get rid of it. For some reason, it is always a problem with resin. I never bother with plastic kits or metals and have never had an issue but resin is problematic – if you miss a spot, it will flake your paint! I then primed the model with Vallejo black primer using an airbrush.

Painting in progress. – You can see the original Olive drab that I thought was too light on the front of the tank- I’ve missed a bit when repainting!

As far as the colours go, you could write a book on the subject! Mike Starmer has written quite a few and is evidently the foremost expert in this area. Google him for more information. I took my usual pragmatic approach and used MIG Ammo colour Kahki Green MIG113, which has been designed specifically for painting British armour 1939 – 1942 with Mr Starmers input. Once again, I used an airbush to apply this coat. When it came to the camouflage pattern, I used blutack to mask off the pattern, approximating to the picture in the Profile publication. I initially airbrushed on Mig Ammo 0112 Olive Drab. This looked dark enough in the bottle but when on the model it looked too light to me. I decided to repaint this using Vallejo German Black Green 70979. I also added a couple of drops of black to make it even darker. Rather than re mask the model, I simply brush painted it over the Mig Olive drab.

Front view of the Vickers VIb

Rear view showing exhaust and aerial platform.

I then picked out some details – mirror and lights were painted silver, exhaust system Matt black, tracks, steel, aerial cover white. I have just started the weathering. A quick dry brush with the khaki green and dark green lightened with Iraqi sand just to pick up the edges of the armour and the rivets. I used army painter strong tone to run into the panel lines. And that is about as far as I have gone. I’ve now put the tank to one side whilst I order some markings and add the stowage before final weathering and ‘dirtying down’. I’ll re visit this process in another blog. For now, the Vickers VI is serviceable for the wargames table – if we get the chance to play!

Vickers VIB (almost) ready for battle!

THE COMMERCIAL BIT

Almost all of the paints, miniatures, bases, basing materials and anything that you are likely to need for your hobby are available POST FREE at the time of writing, from my shop here:

You can see the Blitzkrieg range of both 1/48th and 1/56th scale tanks here:

BLITZKRIEG MODELS

You can see our range of MIG ammo paints and accessories here:

MIG AMMO

we carry a huge range of Vallejo paint and accessories here:

VALLEJO

We carry a full range of Evergreen Plastic – ideal for modelling and converting:

If you haven’t got a piece of wire….the 50mm spears are here!

50MM SPEARS

If you prefer proper brass rod or tube, we carry a huge range of Albion Alloy metals here:

ALBION ALLOYS

Happy Modelling!

The BEF force is growing.

I am gradually getting to grips with the organisation of the British army in WW2, and more specifically, the BEF in 1940. I would have thought that after being immersed in the button counting world of Napoleonic’s, a more modern period would be easy to grasp. Well I don’t find it so. It doesn’t help that I have been influenced by all of the war films that I have watched over the years. In the films, the Hero – Sergeant, or who ever was in charge, always seemed to be talking to his platoon of ten or so men. I now understand that a Platoon is a much larger body of men, and it is the Section that is the building block for the modern British army.

Lieutenant and Sergeant command the platoon.

Having read various internet articles on the subject, which to me appear vague – originally eight men to a section, then eleven ( including the corporal), then may be ten later in the war, all depending on casualties, I became confused. I could have saved myself a bit of time if I had just looked at the Perry’s Eighth army plastic boxed set. They explain it all very simply in one diagram! So one full strength section comprises of 8 men with rifles ( probably) and two men that make up the Bren gun team. Ten men to a section. Three sections to a platoon. You then have a small Platoon HQ, which generally comprises of the Platoon Commander – a Lieutenant, the platoon Sergeant, a couple of runners, an anti tank gun team ( Boyes rifle or PIAT) and a 2″ mortar team. So I need to paint around 38 figures to complete a platoon. That will do for me, I cant cope with a load of if’s but’s and maybes!

The confusion that I was feeling was because a variety of extra weapons teams or transports, organised in additional Platoons at Battalion level, can be attached to or deployed with the basic rifle platoon to give it some extra muscle. So you might have an extra Vickers HMG attached to your platoon or a couple of 3″ Mortars, or even an anti tank gun fighting with the rifle sections. Also Sergeants and Corporals might be carrying a sub machine gun rather than a rifle. Just to make matters worse for me, the battalion or regimental markings are very subdued. No brightly coloured facings or flags on the modern battlefield!

BEF section – some basing still needs finishing!

The same sort of approach was taken to deploying tanks. It’s not like the cavalry of my Napoleonic army, where you model the basic regiment and line them up all together. I’m sure that there were occasions when that happened, but again, it seems as though tank platoons or companies were attached to infantry or visa versa, as the need arose. I suppose that the commanders took a pragmatic approach and allocated whatever resources they had to acheive their objectives. In the case of the BEF, particularly as the fighting got underway, things became more chaotic and deployment was more fluid. With casualty replacement less likely as the campaign progressed, the ideal section or platoon rarely existed. It’s all very different to building ‘blocks’ of men that will represent a fighting unit.

Bren Team – Section LMG

I suspect that once I have decided on a rules set, the size and type of force will become clearer. To be fair, I need to play a bit of catch up in terms of the history. Most of the books that I have read deal with the grand view of the battles rather than the specific units at platoon level. In most WW2 games, the action takes place at platoon level. In effect, one model soldier represents one soldier in history. This is in contrast with earlier historical battles where the action took place in the main at Battalion level. I guess, that wargamers moving from WW2 back to Napoleonic wargaming find it just as confusing as I do moving the other way!

In the meantime, it would be nice to finish my first section!

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