November 2025 hobby update

Birthday, A&E, ECG, Doctors, chest pains clinic, ECG, dentist, blood tests.  What a fun packed month it's been!  You think you know what's coming don't you, that I didn't do much hobby wise.  On the contrary dear reader, the thought of one's possible demise has given me a good old kick up the arse to get on with stuff.  

Completed 

Here's what I finished off during the month:

  • 37 Heroics & Ros 6mm Soviet Paratroops finished as Iraqi Republican Guard.  This is a full platoon with a HMG support.  I also based a BRDM-2 that had been hanging about.
  • Still with The Iran-Iraq War project I spent some time tidying up the two forces, which was another of those jobs I've been meaning to do for ages and like many of those jobs once you start it takes no time at all to do.  First off I cut some magnetic rubber sheeting to fit in the RUB inserts that Warbases had made for me in the summer.  Then I added some magnets to the base of the end vehicle in each row.  Having based all the vehicles on bases that I knew would fit exactly in the RUB insert, a magnetised one at each end is enough to secure them all in place.  I then arranged the infantry so that the smaller 10 and 15mm magnetised bases lock the 1p based figures in place.  It's very satisfying when your idea actually works.  This is the first time I planned the storage for a project.  Usually I make it up as I go along.  It also shows one of the advantages of 6mm, as I have two company sized forces neatly stored using only 2/3rds of a 4L RUB.
  • Another of those jobs that I've been meaning to do for ages, was to add some support to the 6mm paper buildings I made in the summer.  I used some off cuts of 5mm foam card from an abandoned Viking long house build and stuck these in the inside with PVA.  A simple job, but it really has improved the sturdiness of the buildings and should keep them going much longer.

In progress

On the table as the month ends are:

  • 6mm Heroics & Ros 1980s Soviet Paratroops.  I've still got around 50 of these, all ready for basing.  I'll use some for a VDV Soviet Airborne platoon for Afghanistan, which I'll work on next month, but I don't need that many for that.  I've not fully decided what I'll do with the extras, as I have enough miniatures for The Iran-Iraq War project for the moment.  They're very versatile little miniatures so I'm sure they'll have a use in the future
  • Five 15mm Plastic Soldier Company M4A3s.  These are nice little kits.  However, why the hell PSC thought it was a good idea to make a kit where you can build three variants and not provide any instructions is beyond me.  A decent instruction sheet would have seen them assembled in a fraction of the time.  With the addition of stowage and metal .50 cals and crew figures from the bits box, I'm pleased with how they're shaping up.  At the same time I've been tarting up a  Zvezda  M4 that I'd built years ago that fits in very well with these, being almost identical in size.
  • 1/72nd Airfix Bristol Blenheim.  I'm made a bit more of the this lovely kit.  The instructions are great and it's going together very well.  I've been using the AK Real Colour markers (see Incoming below) to paint the interior and they've worked an absolute treat.  I've hit a bit of a snag as I've put the decals somewhere so safe that I can't remember where they are, but I'll have to work round that for the minute.  It's very therapeutic to just do a section or two at a time, tick it off on the instruction sheet and enjoy the process.
  • I dipped the 10 Poplars that I bought last month and the 40 conifers from this month (see Incoming below).  Using a mix of PVA and water this was a messy business but had to be done, as the conifers were shedding quite a bit of flock.  They'll be much easier to work on now

Gaming

I only managed one game this month:
  • I played a game of Battlegroup, using forces from the Bagration supplement .  This was a small 350 pts Squad level game loosely based on the actions of Kamfgruppe D'Haesse at Narva in July 1944.  They were Flemish volunteers fighting for the Germans and drawn from SS-Sturmbrigade Langemarck.  The game only lasted four turns before the Battle Rating of the Flemings was exceeded.  Their PAK-40 had managed to knock out a T-34 with it's first shot but then the crew were decimated and the survivors abandoned their gun (unlike the Flemish volunteers in 1944).  The Red Army infantry had surged forward using the Ura!Ura! rule but were taking casualties from the Flemish MG-42s.  The Red Army lost another T-34 to Panzerscreck fire, but by then the Flemings were down to their last point of Battle Rating and they lost an objective which broke them. They were in a reasonably strong position and this is the first time I've played Battlegroup and questioned the outcome.  Good little game though. 

Ramblings, Reading & Research  

I'm going to give you all a break and not have a ramble this month. 

My historical reading this month was:

  • "Victory Was Beyond Their Grasp" by Douglas E. Nash.  This is the story of the 272nd Volksgrenadier Division from it's formation to destruction.  I bought this book on the strength of reading the first two volumes of "From the Realm of a Dying Sun", the author's trilogy on the IV SS Panzer Corps.  I wasn't disappointed, this is as good a read as these.  Focusing on the Fusilier Company of the 272nd VGD, it covers the division's bitter combat in the Hurtgen Forest, retreat and eventual destruction.  It's a perfect book for wargamers with lots of  detail of smallish actions that can spark a myriad of scenarios.  It has certainly inspired me to work on my small US and German late war winter forces and get them into action.
  • "Fire and Movement" by Peter Hart.  This is a fantastic book detailing the BEF's first actions in The Great War from August to December 1914.  Like "Footsloggers" it's a mixture of personal recollections from the soldiers, interspersed with Hart giving the strategic and political detail to set the context.  I really enjoyed it and I learnt so much.  It's a very balanced account dispelling some of those myths that have grown up and dealing with how it actually was.  I shall be continuing to read more on the subject and also more of Peter Hart's books.

Incoming and Outgoings

This has been my most extravagant month of the year exceeding what I spent at Salute, with quite a few bits in:

  • The order I placed with Baccus back when they had a sale in October arrived.  I'd been meaning to round out my Seven Years War collection for ages and thought that with the lead pimple being at an all time low it would be a good time to do this.  I bought a pack each of Austrian and Prussian Grenadiers and Austrian Grenzers.  I also added some more items for my 19th Century Colonial forces, with a pack of French Franco Prussian War infantry (to be used as French Foreign Legion) and some mules which will have multi period use.  I now have 100's of figures to paint, but being 6mm it's not so daunting.
  • I was given a couple of books that had long been on the wish list.  First off was The First Anglo-Sikh War an Osprey Campaign title.  The colour plates by Steve Noon are fantastic.  The second book was The Soviet-Afghan War from Helion.  This is one of their Asia at War series and is jammed packed with photos, illustrations, maps and info. 
  • You can never have too many trees so I bought 40 more conifers.  These were a job lot off eBay that only worked out at about 45p each and not bad quality at all.  They range in size from about two inches to five inches and are suitable for quite a scale range.  
  • Remembering Tommy.  I bought this book on a whim as it looked interesting and was less than the cost of a Tesco meal deal.  Lovely tastefully done book and really interesting.
  • AK Interactive Real Colour markers.  I'd been monitoring these since they were released.  I'd  watched a few videos from people I respect using them so knew they were worth investigating.  I ummed and arred about which ones to buy and then went all-in buying the complete set of 34.  I elected to pay a few pound more rather than give Amazon any money and got them from Firestorm Games.  Outstanding service, with next day delivery.  I also ordered another pot of Vallejo Dark Earth which gave me free postage.
  • And there's more.  I picked up a copy of Götz von Berlichingen Volume 1 by Heimdal Publishing from eBay.  I got this for a very good price, around half of what I've seen it go for.  I'm not sure why, but I've always been interested in this unit.  Perverse as it may seem it could be because they were somewhat useless and the opposite of the Waffen SS superman myth that's been so inaccurately spouted over the years.  The majority of Waffen SS units were divisions in name only, they didn't get all the best kit, many were forced into service from the very nations that the Germans considered undesirables and only a very small number of units were that effective.  

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