Major Ballsup's Hobby Shed

June has been a busy month.  I've been adding to existing projects and getting to a point where they are considered finished, i.e. I have enough forces for both sides to play the games I currently want to play. I've also started on a new project which has got me excited.  It's another long update! Completed The only thing I had on the go when May ended was some plastic zombies.  I finished these off early in June and they can be seen in their gruesomeness here .  Keeping with 20mm and the whole Zona Alfa/neo-Soviet vibe I completed some Elhiem modern Russians and a religious leader.  Lovely figures of which you can see more of here . Following fast on the heels of those fellas I completed some support for the Legion in Algeria, in the form of a .30 cal machine gun team and an 81mm mortar team.  More of these grognards here . The last of the completed bits was for my new project the South African Border Wars.  I ordered and completed a selection of vehi...

Over the last few weeks I've added some more French Foreign Legion paratroopers to the Algerian War project.  I took advantage of Elhiem’s pre-Salute sale to fill the gaps in my collection with some supporting troops.  With a couple of exceptions of figures that I didn’t want I think I have the whole range now. First up is this medical party.  These figures add such a nice element of narrative that within days of finishing them off I had based a game around them ( AAR here ).   I added some support in the form of this pair of snipers and a recoilless rifle gunner. And finally the Legion got some heavier support in the form of a 81mm mortar team and a .30 cal medium machine gun team. It may be something like 12 years ago since I painted the first batch of these, before the days where I kept notes.  I tried to match the colours as well as I could but they are a bit different.  I had real trouble trying to match the green of their berets, but when they’re...

Mission Brief On a mission in the djebel a company from the 1er Régiment Etranger de Parachutistes (1er REP) have taken casualties, including their beloved commander Capitaine Charbonnier.  Having requested a helicopter medical evacuation a small unit of paras are trying to get the Capitaine to the landing zone.  Can they get the Capitaine to safety before the  Algerian Nationalist Armée de libération nationale (ALN) close in? Table Set up The game is played on a 3ft x 3ft game mat.  The area is hilly and undulating with rocky outcrops and scrubby vegetation which provide cover and potential ambush points.  There is one flatter area of ground which has been identified as a possible landing zone for the helicopter.  Six numbered hotspots have been placed on the table from which any insurgents will generate from.  Roll to see where the initial ALN forces will deploy.   Starting positions Game length The length of the game is 10 turns.  The...

On the hobby front May has been a mix of finishing and fiddling about trying things.  At first I thought I hadn’t done much but on review I have, so this is a long one! Completed I started the month making some scatter terrain for swamp/marsh areas:    I then spent some time looking at micro armour, painting up some Heroics & Ros and Butlers' Printed Models samples I've had for years.  I wrote up a comparison which you can see here . Going up a notch in scale to 10mm I painted up the two Pendraken M24s that I bought at Salute.  Lovely little models.  Not sure what I'll do with them though.  And going up to 1/72nd scale I finished off painting the H-21 and H-34 helicopters for the Algerian War project.  I also painted up the 6 helicopter pilots from Elhiem to go in them.    You can see more of them here .  Completing the 'copters got me back into the Algerian War mind set so I knocked out 4 more ALN fighters.  These were act...

Background Guelma district Algeria 1957.  A platoon from the 1er Régiment Etranger de Parachutistes (1er REP) of the Légion étrangère/French Foreign Legion (FFL) have been inserted into the djebel to intercept an Armée de libération nationale (ALN) katiba that has been  attacking French troops.  After a punishing night march the legionnaires have positioned themselves to stop their quarry disappearing into the mountains.  Will they be able to catch and destroy the ALN fighters?   Table Set up The game is played on a 3ft x 3ft game mat.  The terrain is hilly with rocky outcrops, with the area where the FFL deploy having more scrub and a few trees.  There is plenty of  cover and potential ambush points.  For Bolt Action purposes the disrupted nature of the terrain means that Run actions are not possible.   Game set up and rules modifications for solo play The length of the game is 6 turns, with a roll of 4 or more on a D6 the end...