Friday, June 12, 2020

Battlegroup: NORTHAG BRITISH WIP - Chasing Shiny Objects!

I'm not one to be derailed by "the latest wargaming fad." 

I'm extremely focused and disciplined. Unless of course it has to do with Napoleonics.  Or Cold War.  Or Seven Years War.  Or World War II.  Okay NO other eras than those.  Come to think of it, I suppose I am one to chase shiny objects when it comes to wargaming and especially wargaming rules. 

So instead of wrapping up 2 x 10mm SYW Grenadier Battalions that should have been finished a month ago, or my first Bavarian 10mm Napoleonic unit, I switched gears, eras, and painting styles to bring you the following pictures.

They're a work in progress but already I love the lads...still need tracks painted, some unit markings, and a very tiny amount of weathering.
If you would have told me 5 years ago that I'd be purchasing a British armored force for tactical cold war gaming, I'd have told you "no way.  Too many eras.  Too many nationalities.  I'm done!"
Starting the huge Chieftains.  The GHQ detail on these models is astounding
Enter Battlegroup: NORTHAG.  Readers of this blog know how much I love playing Battlegroup for World War II and how much I was anticipating the publication of NORTHAG.  Since NORTHAG only maintains equipment data and lists for British and Soviets, I figured I might as well take the plunge and just prior to COVID I ordered a "proper" British force.  Their FV432 "Trojan" carriers are above.

Working the camouflage disruption lines before tracks, tools, and weathering.


Beautiful night last night even if a bit humid.
My goal is ambitious but I've done crazier things before.  All of my British aircraft, tanks, troops, etc will be painted, based, and battle ready by Sunday.  It's almost like weekend leave has been cancelled and someone called "Lariat Advance" on the radio!  It's the real thing!

Latest progress.  I'm running into the basement adding a line here and here and running back to my work desk for work.  Coming along nicely.

The whole force.  A tactical operations center out of picture, recce in the form of 2 x Scimitars, 2 x Swingfires, 2 x platoons of 432 carriers, and 10 x Chieftains.  I also have fast air and helos to boot.  A good sized force to stop Ivan?  Hopefully!
Last camo part are the Chieftain turrets.  What a pain but the result will be worth it!  Bavarian Napoleonic skirmishers look on in amazement as they've been sitting on my desk for months but these tanks suddenly appear with proper paintjobs?!?!  

Looking good so far.

So that's it.  I'm taking a quick break from AWI, SYW, and 10mm in order to catch up my micro forces to play a proper game of Battlegroup: NORTHAG with microarmor.  Stay tuned as I amaze you with British DPM painted on 1/285 troopers!



17 comments:

  1. Superb mate.
    Juno what? I fink Ahm gonna do the same as you pal, and git me some good old British fire discipline 'gainst the commies. Innit mate.
    Where's me cuppa tea?

    (it's the best cockney accent I can do with text lol)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Darren if my work inspired you to respond with a cockney accent my work here is finished! :) glad you like them. I'll make them part of the storied 17/21 Lancers.

      Delete
    2. Looking forward to that 80s DPM. Now that will be a real challenge.

      Delete
    3. The pressure is mounting! I'll have something akin to DPM, which as we've discussed is some of my favorite camo!

      The keen eyed among you will also notice the armaments and helmets are all wrong on the PBI (newer style helmet and SA80s) but it's all I've got to make this work by Sunday!

      Delete
  2. Very nice job, but full steam ahead, the pressure is on!

    Are these the vehicles made with than new resin type material - did you have much problem with flash or bent gun barrels etc?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Norm I have my work cut out for me. Luckily Ivan is done!

      Oh I should have been more specific re the models. These are 1/285 GHQ microarmour. I wish i had the gorgeous 10mm PSC stuff.

      Between you and I, if i could do it all over again, ALL cold war and ww2 stuff would be in 10/12mm.

      Delete
    2. Then I am even more impressed at 6mm!

      Delete
  3. Are those all GHQ minis? I'm so depressed about CINC going under and selling their stuff to the Canadians.

    They look good - shouldn't take too much to finish them off.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Ski yep they're all GHQ which are some of my favorite minis. Yeah i had quite a few CinC tanks and IFVs back in the day!

      Delete
  4. This project is going gangbusters! These will be great looking armies when finished.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks great, Steve. Sometimes I wish I'd have just stuck with 10mm for everything, but the heart wants what the heart wants ;)

    In any case, my personal opinion is that you have to go 6mm for Cold War; while I appreciated your BG NORTHAG batrep, it's just not WWIII for me if there aren't masses of tanks clashing ;)

    V/R,
    Jack

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Jack,
      I used to like the bigger Cold War games like FFT and CWC but I'm more into the smaller tactical games now.

      10mm is the best compromise for size and detail and still makes you feel as if you're playing with toy soldiers. 6mm definitely had its merits, too. Like making the engagement ranges look much more realistic. Not to mention much cheaper.

      Delete
  6. The stuff is looking great! Good luck with meeting your deadline. 😀
    I too am not one to be distracted from a current project unless...you know how it goes.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lovely detail on those. Doing a few GHQ WWII minis and I'm very impressed by their quality at that scale, compared to some older Heroics and Ros models I have.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Alan! I really love the look of the GHQ models! The detail is incredible on them!!!

      Delete