Major Ballsup's Hobby Shed

With the Axis forces completed I turned my attention to the Allies.  My collection is split between those of the French Corps Expéditionnaire Français (CEF) and those representing British equipped troops that can be used as Brits, Canadians, New Zealanders, Poles or South Africans.   1 French/Moroccan Goumier company command with mortar team and 2 LMG teams 1 French/Moroccan Goumier infantry platoon 1 French/Moroccan Goumier MMG section British company command teams 2 British infantry platoons with PIAT and 2" mortar support teams 1 British 3in. mortar section 1 British MMG section I've also got a number of M4 and M5 tanks of various marks.  I'd had plenty of practice when I redid all the Axis bases so it didn't take much thought to do these!  I was very pleased when I'd finished the last of the 30 or so Brit bases.  That's another job I've been meaning to do for years ticked off the list. 

A successful week of hobby activity.  I'm taking The Yarkshire Gamer's advice and "not fcking about just getting it done". Gaming I played another game of Burrows and Badgers.  Read the AAR  here .  Painting/modelling   I finished the rocky scatter terrain pieces for use in Algeria and Mediterranean games.  To see more have a look here . I did a quick conversion job on an Old West shack for my B & B game.  I wanted it to look a bit more "oldy, worldy" so settled on a turf roof.  This was a bit of old brown flannel (washcloth) cut to slightly bigger than the roof to allow for a slight overhang.  I brushed Dulux grass green emulsion over this but was careful to allow some of the brown to still show through.  I added highlights using increasing  amounts of Dulux matched to Iraqui Sand to the green.  I didn't even stick it down as it balanced on the roof well enough (well for most of the game it did).  Rough and ready...

It might have taken six years since buying my first figures to have finally played a game, but here's another one a week later!   Setup Following on from the last engagement the two warbands, Werdna Thunderfoot's Royalists and Mellifluous Malachi's Wildbeasts once again cross swords (amongst other weapons). The Royalists.  L-R;  Nainama the Sparrow; Beriys the Adder Mage;  Lutralus River Blade the Otter (Second) Werdna Thunderfoot the Hare (Leader) Briar Far-sting the Rabbit Archer; Apodemus the Mouse Ranger  The Wildbeasts.  L-R McGranite the Ferret (Second) Salien the Toad Mage; Mellifluous Malachi the Fox (Leader) Putor the Ferret; Shakey Bart the Weasel Bitter Sydney the Shrew This game used scenario 2 from the rule book - Ambush the Camp.  The Royalists' Secondary Objectives was Defend, the Wildbeasts' Secondary Objectives was Isolate.  The Royalists (R) are the defenders, so the Wildbeasts (W) go first and get 3 moves bef...

Completing the hills and rocky scatter has now given me some terrain for my WW2 Italian Campaign project.  I've had a reasonable collection of 15mm Battlefront miniatures sitting about doing nothing for more years than I want to admit to.  There was no excuses now not to have a game, so it was time to get them out and take stock. My Axis force consists of: 1xGebirgsjäger platoon 1xFallschirmjäger platoon with additional command teams 1xFallschirmjäger 20mm Flak platoon 1xFallschirmjäger Mortar section 1x88mm Flak Platoon  2xSemovente 75/34 assault guns 2xHornisse tank destroyers I'd never really felt like I'd finished the bases, so I decided to bring them in-line with the terrain pieces.  I followed a simpler version of the colour scheme I used for the rock scatter terrain, with just a base coat of Dheneb Stone followed by a single drybrush of Iraqui Sand.  I finished them off by gluing on small pieces of different shades of homemade clump folia...

Around the same time that I started making the rocky hills I started fiddling about with some scatter pieces.  Very much inspired by an article on the excellent Steven's Balagan website I set to work. The first stage was to assemble the material.  I wanted the bases to be very thin but also strong.  I also wanted them to be irregularly shaped so precut MDF bases were automatically ruled out.  EVA foam was not going to be sturdy enough and I have noticed that this does have a tendency to curl up.  A delve through the bits bag produced a sheet of 1mm thick plastic card.  Perfect for the job.  Using just household scissors I cut out a whole load of irregular shapes for bases. I went through my tin of stones and selected some that I thought looked good.  When I placed them on the bases they looked a bit feeble.  A scout round the garden and flower pots produced some better ones as did a walk along the paths through our local woods.  I trie...

I've had quite a busy week on the hobby front, doing things that should have been done ages ago! Gaming I played my first game of Burrows and Badgers.  Read the AAR here .   Painting/modelling   I finally managed to finish the rocky hills for Algeria/Mediterranean games.  You can see more of these here .  I've also been working on making some rock scatter terrain.  These aren't quite finished but are well on the way. Research & Reading I've been reading Fortress of Fury by Matthew Harfly.  It's the seventh of his Bernicia Chronicles series featuring the warrior Beobrand.  The novels are set in 7th Century Britain and are a great romp.  I'm not sure about the history of the books but they're an enjoyable and easy read and make the commute go quicker.  Incoming! No purchases this week.  I attended The Temple at War living history show on Sunday and took a wedge of cash but there was nothing to tempt me apart from food!...

Six years since buying my first figures I finally played a game of Burrows & Badgers.   Setup The two warbands pitted against each other were the Royalists led by the Hare Werdna Thunderfoot and the Wildbeasts led by the Fox Mellifluous Malachi.   The Royalists.  L-R Beriys the Adder Mage Lutralus River Blade the Otter (Second) Werdna Thunderfoot the Hare (Leader) Briar Far-sting the Rabbit Archer Apodemus the Mouse Ranger  The Wildbeasts.  L-R McGranite the Ferret (Second) Salien the Toad Mage Mellifluous Malachi the Fox (Leader) Putor the Ferret Shakey Bart the Weasel Bitter Sydney the Shrew I played the Open Battle scenario from the rule book.  The Royalists' Secondary Objectives were Deliver and Conserve.  The Wildbeasts' Secondary Objectives were Capture and Showdown.  The Royalists (R) win the Fortitude Roll-Off and are the Attackers.  The Wildbeasts (W) have the largest number of models and go first.  Each character ...