October 2025 hobby update

October started well, then I picked up a nasty fluey thing that curtailed my hobby activities for a full week.  Work has also been full on so not as much done as I'd hoped, but still a bit of progress.  

Completed 

Here's what I finished off during the month:

• I concentrated on the Heroics & Ros 6mm and got another 79 Iraqi and Iranians all based and finished.  I used the 3-2-1 scheme I explained last month (here).  The initial Iranian and Iraqi forces are now complete.  I'm quite pleased with that as I managed to do it within six months of buying them.  Just a few aircraft to do now and this phase of this project will be complete.

• I finally finished off the Italian villa that's been on the table for a while.  I spent too long thinking about how to do the courtyard and in the end used embossed plastic card, which was my original idea!  Cut to size and painted this has worked a treat.  Once this was in place I added more weathering and foliage to complete it and I'm really pleased with how it's come out.

In progress

On the table as the month ends are:

• 6mm Heroics & Ros 1980s Soviet Paratroops.  These are the last of the 1980s figures I bought at Salute.  They're all painted and varnished, I just need to decide how I use them and therefore what colour I'll paint the berets and if I change the tones of the uniforms. Current thinking is some will be finished as Soviet paras for Afghanistan, some as Iraqi Republican Guard.

• I've made a start on a 1/72nd Airfix Bristol Blenheim  kit that's been sitting in its box for five years.  I bought this to add to my small collection of Airfix early Second World War British fighters consisting of the Defiant, Hurricane and Spitfire.  As it's taken me so long to even start it, I'm in no rush and will give this lovely kit the time and attention it deserves.

• Right at the end of the month I started on the Plastic Soldier Company M4A3s that I picked up in the summer.  I've only part built one and although they are in theory a simple enough kit, why in the name of all that's holy didn't PSC include some simple instructions?  I can't believe it'd cut into their profits much to include a single sheet of A4.  There's bits that are easy to get wrong and some instructions would make all the difference to the build.  Unfortunately this is symptomatic of my findings of PSC.  They produce some really good products but always do something that lets them down which is such a shame.

Gaming

I only managed one game this month:

• I played the seventh game of my Verrotwood campaign.  This was a particularly brutal game for one of the cults.  You can read all about it here.

Ramblings, Reading & Research  

This month's reading, listening and watching has been dominated by the Second World War.  It's always there at the core of my interests, even if I go through periods of interest in other periods!  Mid to late war Eastern Front (in 20mm) and Italian Campaign (in 15mm) form most of my collection.  I also have small collections of: British Empire and Germans for the Western Desert; US and Germans for North-West Europe Autumn/Winter 1944-45 and USMC, British Empire and Japanese for the Far East all in 15mm.  And I also have early Barbarossa period Germans and Red Army and Partisans in 28mm but that's an anomaly!  I'm currently looking at what theatre/campaigns I may start collecting next.  

The great thing about the conflict from the collecting perspective is the diversity of campaigns and theatres.  This also allows changes in scale and scope, but with cleverer and more scale focused collecting than I have managed you can be canny, as a late-war German force will be equally usable against the Red Army on the Eastern Front as it will against the Western Allies in Italy and North-West Europe.  

I have later war Germans in both 15mm and 20mm, which may sound daft.  However, when I started collecting it was pre-Flames of War and there really wasn't that much available in 15mm, so 20mm was the best option.  What I have done though is to try to have different AFVs and troop types in the different scales.  For example, my 15mm Italian Campaign collection consists of Fallschirmjaeger and Gebirgsjaeger, whereas my 20mm Eastern Front collections (one dressed for Summer and one for Winter) are all Waffen-SS.  Additionally, with the exception of ubiquitous vehicles like the Pz IV, Opel Blitz and Kubelwagen, I try to focus on different vehicles for each collection.  

My current aspiration is to build a Fall of France 1940 collection.  As to what scale I've yet to decide.  I'm leaning towards the smaller scales with 6mm, 10mm or 12mm currently all in serious contention, and although I have suitable early war Germans in 28mm this isn't too viable mainly due to terrain storage and playing area limitations.  Battlefront were due to be releasing their early war range this year but that has slipped so maybe I should wait and see what happens here.  It allows for more research time which is always worthwhile.

Rules wise I'll be looking at Battlegroup, Chain of Command and I Ain't Been Shot Mum.  Although I've yet to play either of the latter two sets, they are definitely on the list for 2026.  I'm thinking of initially building platoon size forces for CoC, then I can add more support options to play Battlegroup.  Finally if I want bigger games I can add extra platoons and use IABSM.  And here's an idea I've been mulling over a lot: can you successfully play CoC in 6 or 10/12mm?  It's worth a look at isn't it.  

After that brain dump onto what I've been reading, of which there was quite a lot in October:

• The first book I read was “The Other Side of Silence” by Philip Kerr.  This is another Bernie Gunther novel, set on the French Riviera in the 1950's.  The gist of the story is that Bernie gets involved in a black mail scheme involving Somerset  Maugham (the writer), (ex) Nazis and the East German and British Secret Services. This one had the least Second World War content of those I've read so far.  However, it was still an excellent and enjoyable read.

• From the French Riviera I travelled to North Africa and Italy reading "Monty His Part in my Victory", the third of Spike Milligan's wartime memoirs.  This is a very slim volume and feels very much like the calm before the storm of Italy.  For much of the book Spike and his unit are having a rare old time in Tunisia.  Some of the humour is glorious, I nearly choked when I read Spike's description of his new CO. 

• Onto Spike's next destination of Italy, I then read James Holland's "The Savage Storm".  This covers the Italian Campaign from September 1943 until the end of that year.  For those that don't know anything about this theatre of The Second World War, they may be surprised by how brutally grim it was.  I've read a lot on it and it still shocks me.  I noticed a change in tone and emphasis in this from Holland's other works.  When I read the afterword he stated that he had deliberately included as many first hand accounts as possible emphasising how horrific it was for all combatants and the poor civilians.  

• The final book I finished was "Footsloggers" by Peter Hart, which is at the sharp end down at infantry battalion level.  This is the story of the men of the 16th Battalion Durham Light Infantry from formation to demobilisation.  It's a classic work and like the above title, illustrates starkly the relentless attrition of the Italian Campaign.  How men plucked from normal life did what they did is beyond me.  Thank goodness they did for all our sakes.

Incoming and Outgoings

Not much in this month, just some terrain bits and bobs from Peter Spares Model Railway shop.  This was a couple of sheets of Slaters embossed plastic card, a pack of Wells cobblestone plastic card and some Busch Poplar Trees.  Absolutely excellent service, ordered Wednesday, delivered Saturday.  The paving sheet enabled me to finish off the Italian Villa and was well worth a few quid to do it properly.