Monday, September 23, 2013

Gaming Board Inaugural Game! GHQ Armor

All day at work I was thinking about breaking in the new gaming board.  As soon as I got home, I threw some armor on the table and got cracking.  GHQ rules - meeting engagement from the book's first scenario.  I won't go into too much detail suffice to say it was a cracking good time.  Russian decisive victory as well.  The board surpassed expectations and I love all the maneuver room!
glorious people's army advances!


scouts



the German view


Russians pour through the collective farm



tanks bursting through

KV-1s breaking through

scouts calling in artillery fire...none of the katyusha missions arrived





cool pic!  Soviet commander


yours truly.....

moving the troops

this stupid SU76 barely managed to move past the line of departure and didn't move the rest of the game...



Germans occupy the woods

STUGIIIs take on the lead elements of the Soviet breakthrough


Soviet breakthrough! THe Panzers started bugging out.


Friday, September 20, 2013

Gaming Table & Zvezda T-72!

Huzzah my Fellow Gamers!
The gaming table is about 80% right now and good enough to actually game on in my humble opinion.  I ran out of green flock so more is on order and on the way.  My wife says she prefers the look of all of the various colors as opposed to solid green anyway.
I think the additional green flock will do nicely.  That said, the 3 layers of glue I put on yesterday are pretty much dry and that flock pictured here isn't going anywhere!
 What's cool about the table is its size.  For a guy confined to apartment gaming the last 2 years and only being able to game on a small sized table, this is really a step up!  Considering where I used to live prior to moving to the Philadelphia area and my 8' by 4' gaming table, I was really slumming...  I included a shot of my newly based ACW Regiments/Battalions (for Black Powder, Volley & Bayonet, etc) for scale.  Those guys are 3" by 1.5" so you get an idea of the size!

A 1/100 tank pictured for scale.  Now I have more room for maneuver!
The table is 6 feet by 4 feet and MUCH better than the dining room table. (ahem...John - no more chairs in the pictures).  I forgot all of the "lessons learned" and those were re-learned the hard way yesterday.  Also the plywood is heavy so I need to bring in my other card-table (previously used for holding up the other 4' by 4' sheet for the last gaming table) which is at my Mom's house to keep the sides from sagging too much.

Okay enough about the table - everyone's waiting for the T-72 pics huh???
Not bad.  I'm not happy with the paint job overall but I have a TON more to get the technique down...

The tank came with decals but I felt like painting these on.

The side skirts should really be glued down as they keep breaking off...

A light tan drybrush did wonders too and you can see the remarkable detail on the kit.

Dare I say, with the ERA blocks on the front you could technically use this as a T-90...

Nice terrain board!  will look even better with trees, roads, and houses atop during a game.
Lots of hobby work being done, folks.  More ACW Regiments/Battalions being pumped out and I have been busy busy busy re-basing my Warmaster Fantasy 20mm troopers for my annual Halloween game.  THis year I have some awesome new additions to the force - The "Dark Alliance" Orc Heavy and Light Cavalry, as well as their armored Orc Infantry!  Compared to the Caesar guys, these Orcs look civilized.  So maybe this year, the practically naked greenskins will be "feral" orcs lol.

On the moderns front I have 3 T-80s painted and ready for action as well as a BMP-2 and BRDM-2 for my Soviet Tank Battalion.


Sunday, September 8, 2013

Epic Haul! Modern Zvezda 1/100 Vehicles

FINALLY!  After what seemed like forever, the Zvezda "Hot War" stuff has started to arrive in the States.  Good thing I pre-ordered - especially with the Russian stuff!

The entire order is still enroute - but Michigan Toy Soldier did fulfill it partially in the form of
 4 x T-72 Main Battle Tanks, 4 x BTR-80 APCs, and 2 M1A1 Main Battle Tanks.

I will showcase some of the models in some future posts but here is a sneak preview of some of the kits and the T-72 on the sprues:

nice packaging




T-72 Turret w ERA

road wheels and tracks - I am really getting spoiled with the "fast build" kits!

top part of the hull.  very nice kit!  Can't wait to put together and paint this sucker!


So my Soviet tank battalions are taking shape now with 1 T-80 Battalion on the drawing board and 1 T-72 Battalion on the drawing board.  At least now I have the hardwear for both!  It will be interesting to see how my Zvezda M1A1s line up next to my "Johnny Lightning" M1s...I'm not holding my breath.  The smart money says there will be 2 separate Company teams with the M1s from different brands in different outfits.  That's all for now.  I'll showcase some of the other equipment this week.  LOTS of spray painting to be done tomorrow!!!  Huzzah!

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Reinforcements Enroute!

Just received a wonderful email from michigan toy soldier yesterday - my Zvezda "Hot War" 1/100 vehicles are in the mail!!

I will post pictures of them when they arrive.  Suffice to say I'm thrilled.  These will be some sorely needed assets boost to my modest force of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.  Here's what's on the TOE list for my Soviet forces now in 15mm - all this stuff is at home awaiting paintjobs:

5 x T-80 MBT (Quality Castings)
3 x BMP-2 IFV (Quality Castings)
2 x BRDM-2 Recce (Quality Castings)
50 x individual infantrymen from Command Decision minis
 
"client states"
6 x T-55 (Quality Castings)
1 x T-62A (Quality Castings)

I will be receiving a Battalion's worth (at 1:4) of T-72 tanks and BTR-70 APCs in the mail, along with 2 x Hind-D Gunships for combat air support.  Also ordered US Armor and IFVs as well - more on those later.

Going to outfit the T-80 battalion in the tan on green camo scheme and the T-72s will be just the opposite with a tan base and green and black "squiggles" painted on.  the BTRs will be in the same scheme as the T-72s. while the T-80s will be in the same scheme as the BMPs.

The plan is to sell off my 6mm micro armor, 10mm Napoleonics, and all my unpainted adler lead ACW figs to continue to finance my 15mm binges.  This zvezda purchase was a long time coming and I had set aside money all summer to purchase it.  Now it's a reality!  Pics to follow when the package arrives!  huzzah!