советская армия

 Been working on some test models.. for some future Cold Wars Gone Hot.  We have a T-72 Late model and a BTR-80.  Models are by QRF, and while the molds are from the late 80s it feels like, there is a tonne of detail, which is why I picked these over say the BTR-70 model, which was terrible (I have one, a BTR-70PK command, horrible)

 I used a 3 tone scheme, as I want to be able to run these as any "OPFOR" be it Russians, East Germans, Syrians, Egyptians, etc etc

 I love the boat front.  This sucker had hydrajet in the back, and would raise snorkels for the engines!

 Colors used was black spray, Russian Green 894, German Grey 995 and Khaki Grey 880, then washed, Drybrushed with Bleached Bone.

 That Soviet Army badge on the optics cover was a biiiiiiitch!

 Rear quarter view.

I am super happy with these, and how they turned out.  I am sure Rob Kelly can be persuaded to post his Cdns, I saw some pics and they are Gorgeous!  Certainly brings back the memories of living in Baden as a kid, I had forgotten the maple leaf was black and all the license plates were in green!

Market Garden AAR

Fireflies get new ammo! (White ball tips are FF's until Rob can paint his extra2)

Quick post, this is in reply to Ca$h's post below, where my 21.Pzr have to defend a town against RobK's Canadian Armoured.   With the added firepower in the new lists, can I hold off 8 AT15 guns?    We rolled Pincer, with me defending.  Video at the bottom.  Enjoy

 SP 15cm Howitzer 37L(f)'s

Panzerwerfers score some Achilles kills turn 1!

PanzerVI-B decides to not get flank-shotted by backing up out of the town.

Howitzers making short work, and I would get my reserves soon....

Video

Market Garden Campaign update

Last week saw some more action in our Market Garden Campaign. Check out the video for more info:



As can be seen, the Allies only managed to capture the bridge. A couple more games were played last night, so stay tuned for Matt Varnish's After Action Report to see how things are going for the Allies this week!

Cheers,

Ca$h

Behind Friendly Lines

Recently I found myself on the road and happened to find a decent sized hobby store in Indianapolis. I was skeptical as to how much Flames of War stuff I would find there, in the past most stores that list Battlefront products rarely have more than a few blisters and some terrain kicking around. I can tell you from the moment I walked into games2d4 (Games to Die For) I was impressed, Jerry's store is well laid out, clean and most importantly customer friendly. I explained that I was from out of town and was looking for some pretty specific products. I went in there with the intention of picking up some German Sniper teams and seeing if they had the British 25 pdr. with the shirtless crew to match my desert crew and guns that are in my Australian army from North Africa. After some searching and some online checks, we tracked down the stock codes for the two items and found he did not have them in stock. I was only there another day or two, so ordering them in was possible but not practical in my case.

I was a little discouraged but not surprised, as these are older items and a little tough to find. Games to Die For has everything else! From army boxes, terrain, tokens and more stuff than I can list here. It's likely the best organized and stocked store I have been in. After talking for 20 minutes and going through the racks and shelves of FoW. Jerry mentioned that there would be a group playing a few games that evening and I would be more than welcome to come back and check it out. I was pretty excited the store would be open a little later as it would give me some time on EasyArmy back at the hotel to do some more research into a list I am putting together for an upcoming event. I looked around for a bit more and left empty handed, but had a pretty good idea I would do some shopping later on. Something else was going to be different about the games, the guys were going to be playing Early War, a time period I have no experience in, and was curious to see what would be painted up and on the virtual battlefield.

I went back to the store a little after supper to see what armies would be tabled and what the terrain would look like at new venue. I met 6-7 locals that are into Flames and have been playing a few years. I only remember a few names, as I was mostly there to watch and check out the games and go through the FoW to see what I could spend some money on. I caught the tail end of two games and talked to some of the guys to ask about their lists and take some pics of their armies. They had no issues with pics during gameplay and I was careful not to get in the way, as I know some gamers have issues with complete strangers around their stuff while games are going on.....it is war after all.

 

After the night's activities were through, I was invited out for wings at a place right next door to the store. I spoke with Jerry(Games2d4), Dave(a Scot who apparently only plays Brits), Rob, Chris and Terry(?) and a few more members of this group of friends that get together to play on a weekly basis. While I can't recall everyone's name that was either playing, or painting that night at the store, I had a great time watching the games and picking up a few things for myself. I ended up with a PSC Sherman/Firefly box, I'm thinking about Canadians for a LW list with the new Market Garden books out. Wittman's Tiger, Montgomery's objective marker and a German token dice set. In talking with some of them about hobbying and playing FoW, some of them base their vehicles on standard bases and then glue/attach magnets to the bases in order for them to stick to their metal army trays. I've never seen this in our group or any other of the larger events we go to in Ontario. While I prefer to have my tanks and vehicles off of bases as much as possible, I still thought it to be a cool idea.

If you find yourself at this store, you won't be disappointed with the selection or service. Just to give you an idea on how 'friendly' this local gaming store is. Jerry offered up one of his own tank trays to me because I was looking for a specific one to carry my US forces in. I've never been a first time visitor in any store and been treated as good as I was. Chances are if you can not find something in this store to fill a void in a list, a book on your shelf or some new modelling knives, paints or accessories, it's very likely you don't need it. You can email, call or better yet visit Games to Die For in Inidianapolis, Indiana @ 55 South Raceway Road.

Ca$h Hobby Update #3

With the Machinations League going well, I picked up a Stormclad today! Here is a picture of it assembled - I just finished changing the banner it comes with to custom Storm Accumulator:

I wasn't crazy on how the banner looked, so seeing as how the banner itself doesn't have any rules or play a direct role with the model, I just didn't fit it. Instead I made a brass Storm Accumulator out of the small one that was on top of the banner, and a brass screw(cut to fit).  I prefer the look of it, and it will be easier to transport also. I plan to use the flag as an objective marker, so it won't go to waste.

I plan to get it painted up this week so expect some more pictures soon!

Cheers,

Cash Hobby Update #2

This week's update - Cygnar!

I completed 6 Arcane Tempest Gun Mages, the ATGM Officer, and Arlan Strangewayes(solo). Here are a couple quick pics:

So eight models this week, and now I have painted all the Cygnar I own (25pts). What to buy next? I am not  certain, but I want to try running eNemo, so I should look at getting at least one more heavy jack to run with him, beef up my melee some also. I will be out at the league night tonight, so I plan to take a couple pics and post them here. Keep in mind I have yet to win a game with this force, but I am enjoying learning while losing!

Thanks for checking in,

Cheers,

Firestorm: Market Garden Week 1

Hey all,

So last week say the official kick off of the Dice Devils Firestorm Market Garden Campaign! Things quickly got under way with 3 games being played on Friday. These games were:

1. Ca$h's Canadians attacking into WEERT ROAD  - defended by Diragi's German StuG Company
2. Alex's Russian Tankovy attacking into BUDEL - defended by PhantomRescue's German Grenadiers
3. ThunderST's British Armored Company attaching into BERGEYK - defended by Pripyat's Fallshirmjagers

Game 1 sees the Canadian's successfully capturing WEERT ROAD.
Game 2 and the Russians smashed through the German lines, and paid a heavy price to capture BUDEL
Game 3 sees the Fallshirmjager fiercely defend and ward off the British Armor from BERGEYK


Here is an overhead of the initial attacks:

And here is a quick video of some of the action from Friday :




Stay tuned to see where the Allies will strike next!