February round-up - Mostly Bolt Action!

 Happy March everyone!

I'm a little late in updating, and to be honest February continued the roll of hobby progress, with lots of Bolt Actions stuff painted and played with.

Apologies again for the out of order photo dump, I think Google is working against me here.

I started Feb by outlining my Epic Squat 'to do' list, splitting the units into formations and companies for 2nd Ed/Net Epic and began the task of painting.

So far I've base coated my biker guilds and support bikes but stalled again already. hoping to treat them as a palate cleanser when i run out of steam painting WW2 stuff.

Talking of which...

I picked up a fresh box of the new British Commandos, Winter Germans and a Stuart III.

My plan is to update my Commando force with some better sculpts (and paint jobs) as well as use some of the bodies and bits from other kits to flesh out my regular British Army and do some SAS guys too.

The Winter Germans have started life as a Volksstrum unit, but given how rubbish they are in game (anecdotally), I'll likely save the rest of the box for a future project, perhaps something Eastern Front...

The Stuart III got some kit bash treatment to give me the option of running it as a USMC Stuart, or Commonwealth Stuart Recce.

I also picked up a bits box job lot which had a bunch of German Grenadiers, Fallschrimjager, a Kettenkrad a host of other bits which will work great for conversions (the first being a platform for my 20mm Flak cannon).

The grenadiers found themselves being converted to a squad of Gebirgsjager, with rope bundles made from braided fishing line, caps, green stuff jacket hoods, G43 rifles and MG34s selling the look.

We also managed a mini campaign of sorts, playing a couple of Firefight Skirmish games with the Commandos vs SS and culminating in a Paratroopers vs SS 750pt game. 

The Brits were smashed in all 3 games, a lot of this being due to my over aggression and not really playing to their strengths... Next time!

And lastly (or firstly) I updated some of my Sci-Fi jungle terrain to be a bit more 'realistic', but still some work to do their to dull it all down etc... 

January roundup

 Decent month for hobbying was January.

For some reason my photos have uploaded in more or less reverse order, but hey ho.

Finished off the German Grenadiers, Nebelwerfer and FJ HQs that I started in December.

Managed to get some games in at the start of the year, including some Tank War and getting to field my USMC, so lots of fun was had.

I also completed some pacific terrain, a rice paddy field and some volcanic rock things.

I then moved on to building a whole new river/canal/harbour system which should work for most theatres and scales, although I'm still hoping the mod-podge dries clear on the harbour section!

I treated myself to a nice MDF bridge from Kristoff Designs as I had a £5 off voucher and it's lovely!

The Rubicon Shermans and all their add-ons arrived and i managed to knock them out, giving me a USMC M4A3 105/75mm and a M4A2 that can pull double duty as a British Firefly VC with a turret swap.

Overall I am happy with how they turned out, but feel I made some mistakes with colour choice, the hard edge markings, the oil wash (I applied it too early) so a little disheartened there, but all part of the learning process.

I also picked up the Italy : Soft Underbelly of Europe book, which inspired me to revisit my Brits to make some silencers for my Sten armed Commandos and also pick up a Highlander officer and bagpiper for some nice in-game buffs!

It has also meant I've taken a notion to bring my Commandos up to a better painting standard, and i've picked up some of the new plastic Warlord models, some Paras and desert Commonwealth sprues to do some Italy 1943 era kit bashes and make some Commandos, SAS/SRS, and some regular Scots infantry to support them.

I should also have some Winter Germans coming to fill out my Volkstrum and a Stuart M3A1 to use with my USMC and Brits.

To offset this I've continued my clear out, getting rid of a bunch of old terrain on eBay, as well as my whole 40K bits box, some of which dates back to my childhood, so a significant 'all-in' on Bolt Action for my 28mm fix now!

Bolt Action - Small Squads

 So March is looking like it's going to be the month of small squads, painted in a single session. (At least that is the plan!)

In a moment of madness I nearly bought a Bolt Action USMC starter army... Luckily the shop I had it in my basket with ran out of stock and I was too tight to pay full price elsewhere!

to satiate my need though, it dipped a toe in with a single sprue...

I have to say that USMC will be my next full Bolt Action army, of that there is little doubt. I loved painting them and have already put lists together for them, plus it would be a great excuse to use my jungle terrain set!

Other than those guys, I've kit-bashed some more British Commandos, this time using the 8th Army sprue as the base, and adding bits from the USMC, DAK, and Commando sprues (plus my usual green stuff caps) to bolster my existing sections, or function as a skirmish force.

I also finished repainting my Paras - and I'm much happier with them now.

Next up - I think I'll build some Brandenburgers using a DAK sprue to give my desert Germans some elite troops. After that all that remains on my Bolt Action sprues are a dozen or so Early War Germans, which I have some plans for!

I also picked up those 40k Ad-Mech Sicarian Rust Stalkers recently, and think i might use them as a little palate cleanser.

In other news - our little podcast has been doing well, and recently Chris and I had a chat about Bolt Action on it. Gordon has also been very busy and snagged some very exclusive interviews with some veterans of the industry including Andy Chambers! well worth a listen;

https://open.spotify.com/show/3ItXAn2F0g9bAv7MaumWsf

Enjoy!

Aliens and Bolt Action - Roundup

 Hi,

Moving the progress needle slightly this week...

I finished the Aliens from the GF9 Aliens boardgame, quick and dirty with drybrushes and wash.

I also dug through the sprue pile and grabbed the remaining Bolt Action British bodies I had left to muster another regular Tommy section and a 3rd Commando LMG to allow me to rock 3 x 6 man SMG/LMG Commando sections.

As usual the Brits were a kit bash of the honking old Warlord British infantry sprue, and the later 8th Army and Paratroopers sprues, to give a bit of variety.

Warlord have a new British and Canadian set coming out soon and i'll definitely pick up a single sprue assuming it's 6 man as this would nice round out my regulars with HQ + attendent, sniper team and PIAT team.

Other than that I'm mulling over a new Bolt Action army for 2021 (yes, I know I said I wouldn't)

Current contenders are - Aussies - to make use of my Jungle terrain, and could be a cool, if historically inaccurate OpFor for my DAK.

I also fancy Soviets or maybe Italians... We'll see!

I also dusted everything Bolt Action off to get it all laid out and allow me to see what I have/want.

Anyhoo - next up, finish up re-painting the British Paras, and use up the rest of my German sprues for more basic troops.