Space Marine - Finished Army

 Unusual for me to actually finish something but the custard marines have even been in action! Admittedly they got trounced (by Tau and then other marines) but that's more of a reflection on my generalship than their shortcomings as an army. As ever I've now purchased some more units to augment the force and there's a Titan or two in the bedroom just waiting for the Adeptus Mechanicus to get their plastic clippers out.

Something different...

 Just completed the first of a new Blood Bowl team.

Unfortunately, for me, I now realise that this thrower is the first Blood Bowl miniature I have completed for 33 years... I need to lie down after typing that...

Confederates

Lots of them... I'm nearly finished the Confederate part of the US Civil War starter set I purchased last year from Warlord. I haven't gone for specific units but just a general rebel feel, well as rebel as you can get with a muted palette of greys and browns.

The first six regiments

I went with three bases per unit and purchased some additional command stands for the resultant extras.

This time with a few Brigadiers

So far I have:

• 15 completed regiments
• 5 just waiting for bases to flock
• 5 waiting for paint.

Then finish the guns and cavalry

And onto the Union and some garage games!

Space Marine

 A few months ago I mentioned that one of the groups I play in was getting into Space Marine. This resulted in me digging out my old copies of Adeptus Titanicus and Space Marine. Of course not content with some 30+ year old unpainted miniatures I in true wargamer style went off and bought some new stuff...

Whirlwinds, Vindicators, fighters and a devastator sqaud from Vanguard Miniatures

Some dreadnoughts from Alternative Armies

Close up of Pseudo-Predators

All in my favourite livery of the Imperial Fists aka the Custard Marines!

Battle of Britain: Monday 15th July 13:50

 "Collins was unlucky enough to be the only one fuelled and loaded when another scramble came. The weather was tolerable with a bit of cloud and Collins soon found the bandits - 3 Ju88s heading over the coast having just completed a raid"

This was based on an encounter between Ju88s from LG1 who were intercepted by a lone spitfire after bombing the Westlands Aircraft works. The Luftwaffe had to get as many planes as possible off the table, Collins had to shoot down as many as he could.

Collins is rated with a Regular pilot rating the Ju88s conjured up 2 Aces and a Regular. The Luftwaffe's good rolling continued into set up with 2 of the Ju88s starting in an Advantaged state.

Turn 1

Collins decides the situation does not require subtlety and comes in fast and hard inflicting a hit on a Ju88 and with a failed save the Luftwaffe aircraft goes down a level. The Germans all get a chance to fire using their turrets but the Hurricane is too swift and nimble for their gunnery.

Collins opens the engagement

Turn 2

The advantaged Ju88s move first this turn and go full throttle for the table edge. Collins gets another shot at the Ju88 he hit last turn but misses. He then burns advantage to ensure he gets on the bomber's tail but his subsequent shot also misses. The Germans blaze away with their defensive guns but it proves ineffectual.

The Hurricane gets in behind the flight of Ju88s

Turn 3

Nothing much happens this round. The Germans all move first and Collins uses his turn to up his advantage level ready for turn 4.

An uneventful turn

Turn 4

Collins gets in behind his target and lets off a burst - its a hit! The German fails and this time it means one of their engines has been knocked out slowing the aircraft for subsequent turns.

Turn 5

Collins persistence pays off this round. Another hit and the damaged Ju88 plunges into the Channel. Confidence up Collins tries for the flight leader but misses. The Germans again fail to register a hit.

One bomber downed another in his sights!

Turn 6

The first Ju88 fires with no effect. Collins' first round of shooting misses but his second inflicts some damage on the flight leader but he must have got too close as he in turn takes a hit and fails to save!

The Luftwaffe and RAF exchange boom chits

Turn 7

The Germans move first with the flight leader managing to inflict another hit on the Hurricane. If Collins fails he will have two boom chits and have to break off. In keeping with my habitual dice rolling standards Collins fails, so this will be his last turn in combat. He doesn't make anything of it missing with both shots before turning his Hurricane round and nursing it home.

Collins dives away and heads for home

Luftwaffe win - 2 aircraft escaped

"'Heavy escort was there, sir'? Collin's mechanic asked when he saw the number of holes in the Hurricane's  airframe. 

'Eh, yes...,' Collins replied somewhat sheepishly, '...a fair few but I got lucky; you know spun, dived... bit of throttle.'

The mechanic didn't look as impressed with Collins' piloting skills"

ACW Farm House

 First completed building out of Warlord's Epic ACW box, the model is a Sarissa kit.

All I need is a rocking chair, a sunset and some moonshine

Very simply done with the walls given a straight white base coat and then a grey contrast paint wash, the roof a medium grey basecoat followed by black ink. The windows were just done in a medium grey which happened to pick out the frames nicely.

I don't usually put my buildings on a base but decided to make an exception here using a Sarissa tile, simply undercoating it brown and then covering it randomly in two colours of flock and a little gravel before sealing with watered down PVA.

A Confederate regiment trudges past

 

Is that the time?

 2022 already and the first post for a while due to my attention being diverted elsewhere for a time! So what am I planning to do in 2022 - a list seems to be what is required at this juncture:

• Finish the Battle of Britain campaign - its stalled due to my reluctance to go into a cold dark garage in the middle of a Scottish winter!
• Paint the Warlord ACW stuff - there has actually been some progress on this in my absence - 14 Confederate battalions complete, 5 awaiting final flocking and flagging and only 5 left to paint. I've also built nearly all the terrain that came with it and am in the process of building that. Some pictures soon;
• Finish the 6mm Austrian army - well on its way!
• Fight some Napoleonic battles - no excuse other than my pathetic endurance skills due to the weather described above;
• Paint up my Blood Bowl teams and have a game - there's a lot of nostalgia tied up with this game and I can feel a saccharine confessional coming up at some stage!
• Finish my BRS planes - they will be needed for the grand 15th September game!
• Finish my new Imperial Fists army for Epic - this is something the group I play with got into just before Christmas and I succumbed! (like there was ever any doubt I wouldn't)

Probably more than enough to be going on with, though I do have plans for 2023, its going to be Great Northern War shaped!

Naturally, I should now review my 2021 list and see just how successful I was in getting stuff done (it's hardly a spoiler to add not).

Happy New Year to all in blog land.

The Battle of Britain Campaign Page

There's a new page on Khaki Drab allowing followers of the Battle of Britain Campaign to see exactly how 327 squadron is doing. It gives a quick rundown of the active pilots:

And a Roll of Honour:

Along with links to all of the sorties so far. The page can be found here.

 

Battle of Britain: Sunday 14th July 15:00

 "Gold section scrambled at 14:45. Stukas were attacking the convoy Booty off Eastbourne. Chaps arrived just as the Junkers started to dive on the convoy but were bounced by their escort as they closed."

This is based loosely on an actual attack made famous by a radio commentary by the BBC's Charles Garner who stood witness on the cliffs at Dover. A recording of the broadcast can be found on YouTube.

For this battle 327 sent in Gold Section; Reed (flying Y), Blaiden (X) and Buckley (H). Facing them were four 109s, and three Ju87s that were about to dive on the convoy.

Starting Positions

Turn 1

As ever with first turns in BRS this was a quick one. All but one of the 109s ended it advantaged. Gold Section split with Buckley heading for the bombers and Reed and Blaiden bracing themselves for a head on pass with the escort.

End of Turn 1

Turn 2

Battle is joined! The Luftwaffe leader closes on Reed guns blazing, causing a critical hit. Reed fails the save but gets to shoot back as the attack is head on - misses. A boom chit to the RAF.

Critical hit for Reed!

The other three 109s close but are just out of range - luckily for Reed. On his turn Reed manages to fly through the 109 barrier without further incident, Blaiden, however, may be in a lot of trouble.

Buckley gets in amongst the Stukas and out manoeuvres one of them. However, he can't prevent them attacking convoy Booty. The bombers have a mighty fourteen attacks but only one hit! A lucky escape for the merchantmen.

Boom chits: RAF:1    109s:0    Ju87s:0

Blaiden in trouble!

Turn 3

Turn 3 starts with the German 109 leader performing a 180 turn and coming up on Reed's tail. With no wingman Reed is immediately disadvantaged but the Luftwaffe pilot fires wide!

German leader tucks in behind Reed

The other 109s gang up on Blaiden following the same maneuver, a 180 to bring them onto Blaiden's tail. The first one shoots and misses! The second has a deflection shot that results in a boom chit for the RAF. Because it is a deflection shot Blaiden has nine dice to avoid being shot down.

The Luftwaffe gangs up on Blaiden

He fails and his plane explodes.

That's the RAF with more boom chits than engines so the game will end this turn.

Buckley gets a chance to shoot at a Stuka and gets a hit but its saved. He then moves behind a second Stuka and fires this time shooting it down. This means the Stukas would also retreat at the end of this turn but, given they had already dropped their bombs, this was their plan anyway.

Buckley tries to extract some revenge

This left the 109s controlling the skies over this little piece of the Channel at least.

Boom chits: RAF:3    109s:0    Ju87s:3

Finishing positions

"Reed had seen Blaiden's plane explode. The C.O. gave him a grilling at dispersal but Reed was adamant - must have hit the petrol tank, big flash, no parachute."

Space Marine

One of the groups I play with have been getting all nostalgic for Space Marine the 6mm game produced by GW back in 1989. A little digging around the garage turned up my copy bought on the day of release.

Original Box

Rule Books for Adeptus Titanicus (1988), Space Marine and supplement Codex Titanicus

Selection of Space Marines and Imperial Guard

Eldar Titan

Lots of Orks on Sprues

Original polystyrene Titanicus buildings and card ones from Space Marine

Warlord Titan

Of course now I'm looking at the proxies available and thinking of a proper Heresy sized showdown!

Battle of Britain: Saturday 13th July 17:30

 "Convoy codenamed Bread was attacked by Stukas and 109s. Green and Blue Sections arrived at the convoy just as the bombers were making their approach."

This game was based on an encounter which took place that day. At 17.30 twelve Stukas from II/StG 1 accompanied  nineteen ME 109s from II/JG 51 attacked a convoy at Dover.

The setup was simple with Green and Blue sections from 327 facing directly across from the Lutwaffe elements. Unlike the previous convoy battle the opposing forces were arranged on the long table edge only four feet from each other instead of six. So battle would be joined a lot more quickly. The convoy was arranged slightly closer to the British side.

The German Ace

327 had six aircraft:

• Green Section: Bourne (A), Jameson (F), Ball (H)
• Blue Section: Davis (D), Robson (X), Fraser (Y)

The Luftwaffe twelve, six Stukas (2 Aces, 4 Regular) and six Me 109s (1 Ace, 4 Regulars and 1 Rookie). 

Green on the left

The Luftwaffe line up

Turn 1 followed the usual Blood Red Skies routine with everybody trying to climb for advantage. The ME 109s tried to get ahead of the Stukas to engage the Hurricanes before they could close on the Stukas

Blue Section over convoy "Bread"

On turn 2 Fraser tried and failed to outmanoeuvre the German Ace. Nobody else was close enough to try anything. By the end of the round all fighters are in an advantaged state which means the Luftwaffe Ace will get to move first next round. 

Nothing much happening here

And straight away the Ace outmanoeuvred Fraser causing him to drop an advantage level and allowing the Ace's wingman to get in an attack. This was a head on attack which in BRS means the target gets a chance to fire back but on this occasion everybody missed.

The German fighters attacking Green Section manage to drag down Ball's advantage level. Meanwhile Blue Section burst through the Luftwaffe fighter shield delivering a boom chit on the way. This meant that Blue Section could go after the Stukas next round.

Blue Section on the cusp of a breakthrough

Turn 4 starts with everybody ganging up on Davis of Blue section with two 109's performing 180s to get on his tail and start shooting. Fortunately for Davis nobody hits partly as Davis plays the Hurricane's robust card lowering the number of attack dice.

The Germans clearly need some shooting practice, after failing to hit Davis they have two attacks on Green Section which again fail. Another 109 has a deflection shot which are hard to succeed in due to the large number of defence dice but finally the Luftwaffe inflict a boom chit on the RAF.

Fraser gets a couple of shots off on the 87s inflicting one boom chit. Bourne fires and then gets in on a Stuka's tail and fires again, neither are hits. Then the game turns against the bombers. Blue Section's Jameson fires on an already disadvantaged Ju87 which fails its save and Jameson has a kill. He then burns advantage to get on the tail of a second Stuka, let's off another burst and the second Stuka of the round goes down. 

Not the position a Stuka pilot wants to find themselves in 

This means the Stukas have more chits than engines and so will break off their attack at the end of the turn but before they go, one of the rear gunners puts a hit on the Hurris.

End of turn 4. The Stukas have been hit hard, the 109s are regrouping

The Stukas are gone, it's a straight dog fight. The two advantaged 109s move so they are now heading for the Hurricanes again. Everybody else is climbing or turning for position this turn with little firing until right at the end when Jameson outmanoeuvres the Rookie 109 and Bourne nips in and shoots him down! 

This time a 109 feels 327's guns

Turn 6 starts with the German ace immediately getting on Davis' tail but once more missing (an Ace? really?). 

A large dogfight ensues

There's a head-on exchange between a 109 and Bourne with the Luftwaffe pilot coming off worst. Jameson and Davis both manage to avoid the attention of a 109 as the Luftwaffe continue to demonstrate abysmal gunnery.

Turn 7 started with a head-on pass between Bourne and a 109, boom chit apiece.

Head-on attacks are effective but perilous for the attacker

One more and the 109s will exit. But just then the Luftwaffe start finding their marks. The Ace hits Davis and soon after two 109s manage to get hits on Jameson. Finally, another 109 gets a bead on Davis and suddenly a Hurricane is plummeting towards the channel.

Davis is shot down!

At the end of the round the 109s have 6 boom chits the RAF 7 meaning both sides will break off but its a very narrow Luftwaffe win.

"16 seconds of ammo doesn't last long and, guns empty, I opened the throttle and headed for the coast. I did notice Davis had managed to ditch, have to hope the convoy picked him up."

Eldar Starter Set

Finished these a while ago and just realised they had not made an appearance on Khaki Drab! So a quick rectification before they notice (being ancient, near immortal Space Elves they probably need a few centuries to become aware of the omission) - here are my Saim-Hann:

Not many of these guys are actually alive...

War walker

Wraithlord

Farseer and Wraith Guard

As ever these days with the GW stuff this is contrast paints for the big block areas and acrylics for the detailing and metallics.

Haven't decided whether to pop transfers on or not but ages to decide, its all Blood Red Skies in the garage at the moment!