2016, what did I paint?

How I feel after a hardcore painting session..

Not much pre-amble:  last year I kept a loose tally of what I painted.   This year I kept better track.   Taking inspiration from a bunch of folks from around the 'net, here is what I painted this year, first pics, then a video with more explanation

January was me rebasing my old Perry Miniatures 28mm French Napoleonics for the Black Powder ruleset.  This is a small brigade of 3 battalions of line infantry, their brigadier, and the three wound markers. The wound dice go in the green spaces on the markers..

Another Gaming Year Winding Down

It's been a busy 2016, with the release of a few new games such as Team Yankee, the re-vamp of Warmachine and a shift to plastic miniatures by Battlefront for Flames of War. It signifies it's a great time to be a nerd and enjoy all things dice related moving into a new year.

Make sure you have enough money and time going into 2017! You're going to need plenty of both to get your armies to where you will be comfortable getting them onto a table.

Team Yankee, Pair of 60 pt games, USSR vs USA & UK

A Lynx and burning in the distance... surely not a hint of things to come??  Note optics box above the gunner's seat.

We had another Team Yankee Night.  60 point game, my Soviets vs US (Ca$h) and UK (Matty) allied together. We find 10 points per side per foot of table to be very good right now so far.    This time instead of just rolling dice, we decided to play a mission by the book, bid for attack and defence and all that.  

Initial set up below, Soviets on the right, NATO on the left.

They opted to deploy the Lynx's on the board behind trees, the M109s, and the formation M1 tank commander, with 2 M1s in Ambush.   I had my BMP-Blob and some T72s.   Everything else was delayed/scattered reserves.

Team Yankee Extravaganza

Column of Chieftains at a parade in West Berlin. The mega game felt like this vs 20 Chieftains! 

Hey everybody, got a Team-Yankee flavoured post here.. first of all, I have finished my unpainted Soviet stuff (more on order ofc) and here is a closeup of my 2S1 Gvozdika's AKA Carnations.   Doing my research, the barrel linings were coated in red so you could see wear and tear.

Let's Get a Move On Yeh!

Having a slight connection to the UK, it was easy for me to get into a few new games over the fall. Both Saga and Team Yankee offer a little bit of everything that brings me into all things Queen and Country! Saga stuff is one the way, just need to choose a faction. The British Army on the other hand, is here an assembled! Can't wait to take on the Communists!

Battle Report: 82nd Airborne vs Panzer Lehr

I had the chance to play against Brad in Petawawa this past week, he has been busy with work and had missed the past few tournaments. I had my army on hand and dropped by Perkins Hobby House for a game. I've managed to snap some pictures and even had the opportunity to relax and record the game as well. Hope you enjoy the pictures and the brief video of what went down!

I left the 75mm Airborne artillery at home, going for the Glider 105mm instead.

We rolled up No Retreat and played on a fairly even board, made up of both buildings and a few pieces of area terrain, roads and a few plowed fields.

My list looks like this:

Compulsory Parachute Rifle Company HQ

CinC Carbine

2iC Carbine (30 pts)
3x Bazooka (60 pts)

Parachute Rifle Platoon

Command Rifle/MG

6x Rifle/MG

M2 60mm mortar

1x Bazooka (265 pts)

Parachute Rifle Platoon

Command Rifle/MG

6x Rifle/MG

M2 60mm mortar

1x Bazooka (265 pts)

Parachute MG Platoon

Command Carbine

4x M1919 LMG (100 pts)
 
British Armoured Platoon Guards Armoured Division

Command Sherman V

Sherman V

2x Firefly VC (435 pts)
1xSherman with .50cal AA MG (5 pts)
 
Airborne Anti-tank Platoon

Command Carbine

2x M1 57mm gun (70 pts)
2x Bazooka (40 pts)
1x Jeep per gun (5 pts)
 
Glider Field Artillery Battery

Command Carbine

Staff Team

Observer Carbine Team

3x M3 105mm light howitzer (85 pts)

1x Jeep per gun (5 pts)
 
Air Support

Limited P-47 Thunderbolt (150 pts)

1515 Points, 6 Platoons

I was trying to get a full six platoons and still have the flexibility to attach out my HQ bazookas and combat attach my LMG platoon if necessary. If you can make your main Infantry platoons a full size and then add some teams to beef up their numbers a bit, it really does make a difference if they have to stand their ground and hold an objective.

Kingston Flames of War Tournament

(Pictures provided by Dennis and the article was written by Matt)

Lots of tanks from far and wwide made their way to Nexus Games in Kingston Ontario for a Flames of War tournament. The idea behind getting a tournament together in Kingston was to increase awareness and grow the game locally in this area. It also gave Dennis and I a chance to talk about the event and other topics on the road down there, all of which are recorded and will be included in the podcast area in the coming days. 1420 Late War was the points and time period for this well run event on a chilly Sunday in October.

Fall In 2016 Pictures: 40K, Epic, Frostgrave

A few of us went down to Fall In this year, and while we played historical gaming, there was some 'Fantasy / Sci-Fi' stuff that still looked amazing.

(40k Regional tourney called Mechanicon).

On display were some armies and also two massive Titans.

Using today's exhange rate, that Warlord is $2074 CDN !!

617th post: 91st After Action report: Reluctant Jagdpanthers from the 654th sJPzr Abteilung (Gesundheit)

 "Jagd-Panthers: 60% of the time, they hit Every-time!"

For my 91st After Action Report all-time, lets do a Late-War game, vs Matt 1420 point tune-up for an upcoming tournament in Kingston.  A bunch of them came up to Petawawa and to Cdn Nationals, so we may as well go down to their first tourney.  1420 points, Pincer attack.  Pics, then Video below.

CDN NATIONALS Pics Galore

Fort-Ception.. Fortifications on a table that has a Fort...



Friday night Team Yankee mayhem: Here

Army glamour shots here

My Day 1 games Day 2 here

And now its just a picture dump of the rest of the battles, taken in between games.   With 46 players and such a wide array of nationalities (I didn't even know the Dutch had a list!!) it makes for something different than the usual games of Germans vs US/British that LW turns into.  Enjoy

CDN NATIONALS, Day 2

 Game 1, Andrew B, Brit Matilda Co.   He had 2 command Matildas, platoon of Matildas, 2 infantry platoons and some recce carriers.  As we were both Tank companies, I had to attack.   As I have nothing except the gun-trucks which can scratch the paint on the Matildas, it would be an uphill battle.  I torched a reserve platoon of infantry, and got the recce carriers down to 1 vehicle left but their MGs had killed both gun-trucks.   No way of harming him, couldnt stop him contesting, 2-5 loss.

 His Brit infantry were in the tall grass

I didnt take any further shots as I was futilely trying to get some platoon kills... His Matilda list was the rock to my scissors!

Game2 vs Andrew Dobson (I played all 3 Andrews...) Pincer, he was playing Finns with fortifications

CDN NATIONALS: Day 1

Game 1  Free for all vs Kurt R, Japanese: 1 large infantry group with banner, 5 tanks, 3 sets of guns, 1 infantryno banner.  He night attacked, and moved up and hunkered down,knowing I had too many MG shots for him to assault.   I didn't want to just sitzkrieg, so foolishly moved up  He clipped some Fearless Conscript tanks and also got my coastal gun-trucks.. my mistake there.. and then realizing we would just trade shots I knew I had to try and take out a platoon.  Only thing not dug in was his Tanks, so I killed them all but 1, but with Rgmt Banner nearby, auto passed his platoon check.   1-6 loss for me, though I wanted to say I have assaulted Japanese, and did so on the short flank.

 Kurt moves up at night to these hedges

CDN NATIONALS Early War: The Armies

Canadian Nationals, the armies. I took so many pics (for once, I usually forget) that I figured I'd put all the armies in one post, and post my games tomorrow.   We had a great first day, 46 players total this year.  Let's see how close I was to my over/under of 9 for number of Japanese armies from yesterdays post:   

Start off with Bob McBride's beach bum Japanese

Bob always has nice stuff.  here we see his excellent gun team camo netting.

CDN NATIONALS: Friday Night Fight, Massive Team Yankee Game!

Only part-way through deployment, Soviet side

 In what I hope is a tradition going forward, Rob K organized a big Team Yankee game Friday before the tourny by using 4 of the Tourney tables pushed together, plus our TY scenery.    Rob "I dunno, I think maybe 24 feet by 8 is too much"

The other part of the room, tables ready for battle

Flags, Trenches, Italians and the French

So what have I been up to?   After multiple test games for Cdn Nationals, including one where I played 'As Japanese' to test their rules, I decided to finish off those trenches I was working on.   I did three sections, so that they fit nice and snug on my display board:

Tuesday Night at The Box

Another Tuesday night and another night of some Warmachine games for the journeyman league that Tristan is running for the next few weeks. It's a nice break from getting ready for the Flames of War Nationals that are happening here in Ottawa in a few weeks time. A few weeks.....just enough time for painting touch-ups and maybe a few more test games. I know I have some German artillery to paint and also put together a few other things for my list.

More Early War: Fighting Withdrawal, Schutzen Coy vs Italian Tanks 1500pts

'Was ist los?" German soldier trying to read Italian, near Tobruk

Alright, 2 weeks to go until Canadian Nationals. Early War, 1500 points.

Matt and I roll up Fighting Withdrawal.

Matt's Basement of Doom, table set-up, Italians will attack from foreground to back, objectives already deployed with all three on his side of the table.

Trip Down Memory Lane PLUS Some WIP Shots of Cottage and Trenches

40k Squats, aka Space Dwarves

So, someone was using old pictures I had posted on DakkaDakka way back in 2007 to promote his commission painting website.  So I had to make my own site and put my own pics up.  What was interesting was how I had not looked at my old 40k stuff in a dogs age.  So, in all its splendor, here is my old converted Squat 40k army, that won a variety of 'Best Painted's along the way, and caused a lot of my bosses (GW) at the time some consternation, especially at Staff GT :)

40k Squats

Now for some WIP shots..

War of The Machines!

Warmachine is sweeping through the Dice Devils crew like wild fire! Most of us are either buying a complete Battlebox army, or using existing models that we have. Warmachine is essentially a skirmish based miniatures game that is both easy to learn and fun to play. Adding in the fact that the games do not take a long time to complete, you can play multiple games in an evening. We've also found several new places to buy and play this game with new players getting into it!

Where's the Ca$h?

Been a while......

Where have I been? Well, recently I have been enjoying the summer with my family. Travel, camping, and not gaming in any real capacity. Frankly, its been just too nice outside to justify sitting inside and painting. Over a longer period though, I have not been playing FoW at all really. The odd game here or there, but it just isn't peaking my interests of late. I can't point to a single thing that has moved my interests, but I have been looking for escape in my gaming, and I have been drawn back to Sci-Fi and Fantasy settings. We have played X-Wing, board games, but what has actually gotten me back to the buying models, painting and the gaming table is Warmaching/Hordes.

Tuner games for Early War Cdn Nationals

Avanti Savoia!  Going so fast its blurry!

Matt and I decided to do some tester games of Early War 1500 points, given that Canadian Nationals is weeks away.  Flush from my victories at the EW tourney up in Petawawa, I decide to keep using what works: as many tanks rammed down the enemy throat as possible. (video at the bottom)

First game, Encounter:  I was running 3 x 5 Carri platoons, 2 x 4 Tankette platoons and the coastal gun trucks.  He was running 5 dice of stukas, 2 infantry, Nebs, Panzer IIs and a Dicker Max!

Charlie Don't Surf!!

Charlie might not surf, but there are some of us who do!! Summer is in full swing and there has been a lull in the battle. Us here at DiceDevils continue to try and get as much independent and relevant content for all things gaming.  I'm here to update you on the current situation of the Dice Devils. Topics will include games of course, who's playing what. I'll also be taking you through the future and what is coming up in the short term as far as events and such!

Airtime!

Almost two years to the day, I posted an article about my purchase of my Grex Airbrush. You can find the original article here GREX AIRBRUSH.

The nice thing about using this airbrush for models for miniature wargaming is time saved painting!! Not only the ability to pump out a serious number of models, but the look they have when they are done. Everything from base coats to finer details can be done with an airbrush.

Some WIP French Napoleonic, Italian and Team Yankee shots

French Artillery limbers

A quick post to show off what I've been working on.  Plus got some decent pics of my Italians from last post I was talking about.   lately been trying to finish off another Brigade for my Napoleonics.   I have an Infantry Brigade of fusiliers and some light infantry, so it was time to finish off a Cav Brigade.

Not Enough Time

Preparing for tournaments takes more time than throwing a list together the night before the event. Sometimes you have to convince yourself it's even worth attending to begin with. For me personally it has a lot to do with the era that we're playing, it's not that I don't like all eras of Flames of War. It's just that I would rather play with models that I already own without having to assemble paint and create lists based off new models I would have to buy.

Petawawa Early War tournament and other photos, WIP, etc

Broken-down Italian tank?  Shocker!

 Hey guys, back with a long post full of pics as usual, its been a while but w/e, got a lot done!   First lets look at the recent Petawawa Early War 1500 point tournament, which is a tune-up for this year's Cdn Nationals event in Ottawa on Labour Day weekend:

Team Yankee Game 3: USA & CDN vs CCCP

*Komrad, eliminate those Leopards on our Obyektif*

Hey gang, another video bat rep for Team Yankee.. very few pics taken, but the video at the bottom shows us doing Dust-Up.   I just finished painting a french Voltiguers battalion for my Napoleonics too, so I think next on deck at the painting table is some Italians???? :)

Cdn M113 TOWs at a Gasthaus.. no surprise!

Rob's Cdn Leopard (counting as an M1) on the objective.

Our paltry 2 platoons: BRDM-3's (Recce BMP-2) and the Motor Rifles (the BTR-80s are BMP-1s)

VIDEO:

"Afrika Korps Units ready, Mein Herr!"

88, fresh off the boat in Tripoli

So, 6 weeks ago I finished off my Team Yankee Soviet stuff I had been working on, and since then I have been pretty busy. Went to Arizona for 2 weeks, so what have I been up to?   Painting old DAK units. I had a box of 88s that I bought 5 years ago, Panzer IIIs I had from 2012, and Panzer IVs from the first release of Plastic Soldier Company. With this weekend's Petawawa MW tournament, it was a good time to get cracking and get these guys finally on the table. Pics after the jump

PAK 40 Build and Paint (Part 1)

Sometimes you have some free time to help others out! Since I have been very busy building and painting some of the things in my pile of unpainted minis, I had a chance to build and paint a PAK 40 platoon. They don't belong to me, but I had a lot of fun doing my own a few years back and sometimes it's tough for others to find the time to get their own stuff done. No big deal, take on the challenge for turning out some models for a friend.

Panzer V 'Panther' Tanks with Finishing Touches and Pictures

The nice thing about taking the time to building a small lightbox to take your pictures in, is that they turn out great. The right balance of light and a digital camera make all the difference. The Panther Company I have had sitting incomplete is finally done. You likely saw them in progress this week while I have had some spare time to paint.

March of Tanks

Getting some stuff done is what 2016 is all about. I purchased a Grex airbrush a few years ago and have not had the opportunity to scratch paint some armor with it yet. I usually take the shortcut of priming my tanks in their base coat color using any number of the pre-mixed spray cans for models. Whether it's the Armor Spray by PSC or Warpainters lineup of great paints, I wanted to paint an entire platoon using just my airbrush.

Just one of the many Panthers on the table getting some work done to it. This one is an older one I had used some of those shortcuts I was talking about. Could I make the others look like this after the models from the rest of the box set were still in pieces? Let's find out......

Team Yankee Soviet Motor Rifles and BRDM-3 recce

Russian BRDM-3 with AT-5 'Spandrel' missiles.  

So another unit painted, actually, bonus time, 2 units.  Back when I ordered up a tonne of modern soviets in 15mm scale, I got 4 BRDM-2 recce vehicles (see below) and was trying to figure out how to incorporate them into my Team Yankee force... when I realized the above picture.. that is the same chassis, but with the AT-5 Spandrel's up top.  Perfect!

Scout car with a BTR-80 turret.  Nothing fancy.   But in Team Yankee we have AT-5 armed Recon in the form of BMP-2's

 So how could I turn these into BRDM-3s with AT-5's?
 (more after the jump)

Matt Varnish's Models painted in 2015 (lame I know) and MORE to do in 2016!!

T-10M, last of the "Heavy Tanks", pulled from Soviet reserves in the early 1990s (aka IS-8)

For the first time ever, I have kept track of models painted over an entire year, 2015. I started off strong with painting TWO ARMIES in late February...though to be fair, half the 15mm Napoleonic French and the tanks for my moderns list were done. Still, not bad.

Then in early march I finished off my Early War Italians, so another 30 or so models, mix of guns, inf and tanks.  My report of it can be found here!

April I did nothing but play ELITE Dangerous May and June I started painting my Historicon British stuff, and then the group got caught up in X Wing.   I did repaint all my X Wing, so count that as 12 models roughly :)

July, the gang got caught up in yet another game, Kings of War, and I busted out all my old WHFB dwarves. and then stopped.. it would be my 3rd dwarf army to paint. I worked on some British stuff though:

Here

The Great Army Restoration Part 1

Ugly, unfinished, messy, half-assed, incomplete, boring, lazy...all words that might describe the above picture, and all are true, to an extent. We all have armies that need some TLC in one form or another. Most often these get pushed to the wayside as the next shiny thing comes out and our hobby brains gravitate towards that. This is my 2016 plan to change that for one of my oldest and most loved armies, my marines for Warhammer 40k.

Hobby Saturday and Football!!

HELPING YOU STAY ON TARGET FOR 2016!!

Easy enough to watch football on a Saturday morning, we're talking soccer here folks. NFL wasn't on until the afternoon! A perfect backdrop to getting some models and some pre-painting prep done. So after a Newcastle victory, we moved on to watching NFL and finishing up some stuff we've just started working on for this year. With more than my fair share of unopened boxes and new games, it's going to be fun getting this stuff done and on the table.

More Stuff To Do & Getting It Done!

Like any hobby, finding the time to build and paint is sometimes the lease favorite of playing miniature games. On one hand, it's pretty satisfying to get a whole army done. On the other hand, it takes a lot of TIME to get a whole army done. Let's look at ways to avoid the burn out of trying to do much, too fast. Hope you find some of these tips useful for your long list!