INTRODUCING 

It's been quite humbling to see people get involved in the things I've been doing on this blog. I really like the idea of others building on what I have done and taking it in different directions. It gives me an enormous sense of gratification to see others groups forming, using modified rules and fighting out Cold War Scenario's.   I don't own this, I merely rolled a snowball down a mountain and it seems to be gaining momentum all of it's own.

One such Group is based in Canada.....But I'll let them speak for themselves. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did.

RKELLY's HEROES

There is a group of gamers here in Ottawa, the capital of Canada who have formed a group called the Dice Devils (www.dicedevils.com) . Most of us started off in Warhammer 40K, but now we are mainly interested in Flames of War. We also have a friendly rivalry with the Petawawa Miniature Soldiers club, located about two hours away from us ( https://sites.google.com/site/petminisoldiers/). Its located near one of our larger army bases and most of the members are either serving soldiers or retried military. I myself, spent 18 years in the Canadian Army reserves (artillery) and I’ve had a tour of Bosnia and one in Afghanistan.



A couple of months ago, one of our founding members, Dennis (aka Matt Varnish) said we should get into the Cold War. In 1986, Dennis lived in Baden, Germany when his dad was in the RCAF and fondly remembers seeing all the military vehicles and aircraft. Knowing that I like to do Canadian armies (even my 40K armies are based on the modern Canadian army) Dennis told me that I should do Canadians, knowing that he’d have me hooked. We then recruited Mark, (aka Sirrand) who is very slowly doing up a German/Danish unit. Mark is a lifelong civilian who’s still trying to get people to play colonials with him.



Dennis then offered to be the hated Soviets and we all sent in a very heavy order to QRF.



So, we ordered all this metal, but didn’t know what ruleset we were going to use. In doing some searches we came across Mike’s excellent site and we became intrigued. We already play FOW and this would make the transition easier, plus it would be easier to recruit new players from within our group. I’ve been helping him with his Canadian lists and as we are getting close to having our models painted we should start playing shortly. We’ll ensure that we send Mike a copy of our first battle report.

Rob (aka RKelly)

Much Happier with Results now....

I looked at these over and over and realised that compared to the US Woodland Camo there wasn't enough Tan in there. 

So looking at this I went back to my miniatures, put more a layer of TAN coloured stripes, then added Black and some green to make the pattern more natural. I also exagerated the Pattern which I think is ok at this scale. Here are the Results (I am happy with these models now). 

These had too much Tan but I toned it down with a bit more  "Reflective Green"

A different stand from the front

Under pure Whitelight conditions, all models washed with "Nuln Oil"

Under a long exposure no Flash.

Command Element, Medic with Bag on left and Officer pointing out things of Significance  (Baaawwww - Blackadder!)

Bought some Dead markers for giggles, quite like the Medic with the IV Bag

More Dead bodies

So I need to get the old PVA out do some of the static grass and they will be all done. Thanks for the suggestions. I might even highlight the Hands and faces with a slightly lighter shade just to give some definition.

Next up M113's, M60A3, AAV's and HMMWV's.

SWEET JESUS - ARMA 3 Alpha is out

The Greatest Military Sim has been given Botox and a facelift....

This is in Game......IN GAME!!!!!

Yes it's an alpha, yes it's buggy, but by god if they haven't moved the whole series up like 5 gears. It's still the same game underneath just with alot of the silly things sorted (like grenades). By Autumn this year, this game will be released properly and it will be amazing even if only 3/4 of the bugs get sorted. 

In the meantime if you want to be an Alpha Tester get on Steam and start testing (£19.99) but you will get the Beta and the full release, so it's half-price and you get to make the game better. Nice!!!

USMC / US Army Work ongoing..

Some snaps of USMC / US ARMY Stuff...

I love Peter Pig Models, despite the criticisms of the faces the Quality of the models their weapons, their Web-gear, their stances and detail is just the best I've seen. I would recommend anyone to use QRF Vehicles but use Peter Pig Infantry, they are great, problem is the range isn't as extensive across the Cold War as say QRF.

I have to stay Woodland Camo is a bitch to get right at 15mm or even approximately enough to give that "impression" at this scale....Anyone with any tips post them up. In the meantime here are few snaps.

Platoons, Base coated ready for Camo...

My attempts to approximate the WOODLAND CAMO BDU's. 

To be honest these guys look more Modern, like this guy below rather than like 1986 Woodland Camo BDU's....

It's not as good as I would like, I think maybe more black lines using a Pen, or possible a Black Ink wash?? Your thoughts guys?

On top of this I have 4 x HMMWV's (Peter Pig ones, with interchangable Weapons, so will magnetise and go for HMG's and TOW's) on the way, a pair of AAV's (QRF) and a Platoon of M113's (BF Vietnam Boxed Set), should make an Interesting little Mechanised Force and I might yet grab some M60A3 PATTON just to round it out a bit.

Where have I been? 

Honestly, I've had a new Desktop PC and I'm going back to all the things I used to play before I got a Laptop (Steam is great - it keeps all those titles sitting there ready for when you want to dust them off). 

I have also been getting back into ArmA 2 which is just superb and the community has evolved alot of great mods in the last few years when I drifted from Gaming altogether and focused on Wargaming and more social face-to-face stuff. 

I have also been trying to finish my WWII British Guards Sherman Force for FOW "Market Garden" book.

What's happening? 

Well Great news, alot of my friends and Gaming compatriots have been finishing their armies ready to do battle and they are all supplying me with Pictures, which is great for the Blog and great for you, the reader.

Me and Kris got together and put our collective Soviets together into a "Red Tide", I was very pleased with the effect.

A10 screaming in to do some major damage!!!

You can see on the lead T80, Kris is in the process of doing a two-tone Camo on his T80s. I think it looks great, equally the nylon bristle brushes off a brush make amazing "Whip Aerials" for Command vehicles. 

Latest Model Releases :- 

AWESOME !!!! Battlefront have brought forward some very nice offerings. What do you all think? PT-76 is very nice indeed.

I've also heard a rumour that they are doing 15mm Plastic M113's, which would be epic for NATO players and I'm hoping their Vietnam range will expand further, it's all to our benefit. 

Latest Projects :-

I'm now doing a USMC 1986 list for a friend using Peter Pig Models (and I have to say they are very nice), but I've got enough spares to do a Homage to an ARMA 2 Gaming Group and arguably the premier Gaming Group in the AMRA 2 Community "Shack Tactical" run by Dsylecxi. 

They do fun.......SERIOUS FUN.... 

http://dslyecxi.com/shacktac_wp/

Check out some of their Video's on Youtube, they do the Cold War justice and it's great to see people doing this properly without the stupid arcade type portrayals of modern conflict.