Chaos on the Painting Table

Back in my LORT:CCG days, this guy was my hero.

So, I've gone a little off the rails in my painting plans. I was in the process of finishing my Hueys for my Blue Platoon for Vietnam, when suddenly the urge took hold to make an Uruk-hai warband for Saga. Yep, that's how my brain works sometimes...

Anyway, I've been bad about getting some photos together, so here is a snap of my ludicrous desktop. As you can see, I've got several completely unrelated projects on the go. I'm going to focus on the Uruk-hai in order to clear them out.

Sexy Sextons (Not Really)

Sorry for the horrible title.

Anyway, finished these Sexton self-propelled guns over the past week. They've been sitting in my to-do pile for a while and I thought I'd squeeze them in while I was still interested in painting my British Guards.

I'm gonna keep it brief and I apologize for the really slapped-together photos. I'm on a creative high for some Saga stuff and needed to sweep these off my painting desk ASAP. More on the Saga stuff later, as I'm pretty damned excited about it!

The Cursed Tale of a British Armoured Squadron

I'm fairly certain that my LW British tanks are cursed to never hit the battlefield. They have a long and arduous history leading up to this very day of things happening to stop them just short of actually rolling onto the table.

My Late-war British Armoured Squadron started life back in the days of Festung Europa. I decided that my Mid-war Sherman III company stood me in such good stead that I would carry on playing them in Late-war. I also wanted it to be special, so I spent a good deal of time detailing them with green-stuff stowage and such. However, my attempts at sculpting were so deplorable, that I threw them into a box in frustration and covered them up.

Soviet Anti-tank Guns

Here's a really quick update on my Soviet project. I've finished the medium-base anti-tank guns. Six bases over all and like the artillery, they are magnetised to accomodate the two different anti-tank guns available to my Soviets: the older 45mm obr 1938 and the updated 45mm obr 1942. The guns shown here are the older ones, all geared up to support my militia.

Snapshot IV Report

Alright! Well, Snapshot IV was the weekend just past. Based on the feedback left here and several analog discussions, I brought the Panzer Brigade from my earlier article (here...). It was going to be an epic struggle, fielding Germany's 'finest', but at 1850 points, you get a lot of stuff!

After an early start, game one was Dust Up. My opponents were relative newbies (a team-up side) using Welsh Guards tanks. I was a bit apprehensive as the terrain afforded no where to hide my Panthers. So I opted to deploy back and force them to close. Hopefully I could weather a moving-ROF volley and then let loose with my AT 14 guns to clear all major threats. Turned out it worked, wiping out all tanks deployed on the table in the first round of shooting.

WWPD4Vets Event Report

Wow, what an event! We certainly had a lot of fun. I think I played four games, helped run a few new players through an X-Wing game, and generally enjoyed the lazy Sunday.

I've got a lot of interesting photos and now that I finally remembered the camera cable, I can down load them and post them up here. Thanks to everyone who came by. I learned a lot and hopefully we'll be able to make it an even better event next time around.

The first game I played was introduce Wayne to X-Wing. He bought a starter a few weeks ago, so we played straight out of the box. It was pretty fun and I hope Wayne enjoyed it!

Snapshot Armies

Well, I intended to get something up this week covering the WWPD4Vets event last weekend, but as I keep forgetting my all important camera cable at work, getting the photos home is proving to be a bit of a challenge. So I'll have to settle for a list-building article instead. I'll get the WWPD article up as soon as I can get my memory to work with me as opposed to against me.

Unfortunately, this article begins on a frustrating note: I can't get my Fusilerkompanie done for Snapshot! Dammit. So, its time to pull out the backups. General qualification comes down to stuff I've got painted.

WWPD4Vets

Just a really quick post this weekend because we have the exciting WWPD4Vets event coming up on Sunday. For more information about this global event, please check out these websites:

http://vets.wwpd.net/ - The main WWPD4Vets site. Find a local event near you or run your own. If you are unable to participate, please donate to the WWPD4Vets charities using the site above.

http://www.wwpd.net/2013/03/wwpd4vets-prep-battlefield-contest.html - More detailed information about the even can be found on the WWPD main site.

http://forum.wwpd.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6132 - Check out the WWPD forum for details on how to donate and get involved.

http://forum.wwpd.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6525 - Check out the eBay listings that are 100% donation, and more!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WWPD4VETS-FOW-Painted-Oddball-2012-Tournament-Objective-100-to-charity-/151017124647? - Finally, don't miss your chance to own a genuine Flames Of War artifact! This Oddball objective was sculpted and painted by none other than James Brown of the Battlefront Studio (not the godfather of soul, sorry!).

Anyway, I sincerely hope you get a chance to attend or host an event. In any case, please donate to the WWPD4Vet charities because they are truly important organizations to support.

Thanks for reading,
Mike

The General's Fighter

Wave two of X-Wing has recently been released and with it came the model I have anticipated the most: the A-Wing. I reckon the reason I love this ship so much is because of its mystique in Return of the Jedi. Everyone knew what an X-Wing or a Y-Wing looked like. Even the new B-Wing had a great sequence showing its S-Foils moving into locked position.

But then there was that little one, whose only claim to the viewer's attention involved crashing into the control bridge of the Executor. From then on I've wanted to know more about the A-Wing and luckily so did others. There's actually quite a bit of 'history' associated with this little snub fighter, and I've absorbed as much as I could. Find out more about General Dodonna's A-Wing here... 

When I found out that the A-Wing was in wave two, I was pretty damn excited. I managed to score one before the first run was sold out. I wish I could have bought a few more, but finances are a bit tight and it took a bit of doing to grab this one. Still, nothing will stop my ambition of getting a whole squadron (five) of these little bastards!

Egads! Indecision!

Having completed the Soviet guns, I find myself at a terrible crossroad. I've had some outstanding items arrive in the mail all in one fell swoop only to jam my modelling compass entirely.

As you can see from the picture to the right, my creative desires are being pulled in no fewer than five tantalizing directions. And this pisses me off because I want to do them all at the exact same time!

Anyway, this perfect storm of hobbying means that I've got plenty to keep me bust for a long time. It'll also keep me interested for a while too given the diversity of the pile!

Groovy Tunes: Vietnam

Now and again a hobby demands full immersion. Flames Of War Vietnam is one such hobby. Reading memoirs, talking to vets, studying pictures, painting miniatures, modelling the jungle and bush of Vietnam are all good ways to really get into the period, but listening to the generation's music reveals the soul of the period.

First, I apologize if you don't have Spotify as this article and its accompanying groovy tunes might not work for you. But you may be able to use your preferred social music program instead. With that said, I've pulled together several playlists that feature the top 100 songs of each major year of the Vietnam War (1965-1973). I've been using these to fill the background while painting my Air Cav force. Listening to them, I've pulled my favorites into my Vietnam mix. Given the immense diversity in the top 100 and the varied tastes of the music lovers, I thought it would be a good idea to post the playlists from these years and let you generate your own favorites. I've included my own at the end, which is constantly evolving!