New Years Update...

I know I haven't been around much, and I've not been posting alot lately, this largely because (as some of my longer time subscribers know) i've been having my new house built. Well it's watertight now, and is flying along and we should be in in February.

This has mean't I have spent much of Dec packing and arranging things, putting hobby equipment away into boxes and generally between this, some World War II Painting, gaming on my new PC, work and a hectic Christmas social calender I have neglected you guys! For this I apologise, my new years resolution is to give you more attention, and hit the streets to shift some Christmas Timber.

What's next in 2014?  

1. New updated graphical books. 

2. Return of my caption competition (now have the prizes and will restart this again!).

3. More models!

So without further ado....Some Centurions..

FATE of a NATION

So I bought these to kill two birds with one stone....11 of them for my Jordanian Forces, in Fate of a Nation (Battlefronts recent rules in Wargames Illustrated). However I though I could give other players insight into the Models because they can obviously be used with Swedish and Danish Forces too!

I haven't finished these they do need some Greenstuff to clean them up, so it is early days but for the price point of £5.50 they are decent. I'm pretty sure if you asked for a Multipack of 10 discount they would do it, or you can use my blog Promo Code and order over £100's worth. 

I used BF Crew figures, and the hatches are spare M113 top hatches. I will be adding Camo nets, crates and other little details to make them less generic. However for £60 pounds rather than BF £115 I think they will do. Here is a comparison with a Battlefront WWII Cromwell just for reference:-

Happy New Year and I hope 2014 is a good year for you all!

USMC Force takes Shape.....

It seems just lately life is full of pleasant surprises, this last week was no exception.

I have recently ordered some items from Irishserb Miniatures, and after months of me pestering him, I think Brian got fed up of me asking over and over and caved in! (I'm very glad I did however!)

IRISH SERB MINIATURES

So I ordered some models which looked pretty good on his website....Well those items arrived and to say I was blown away is an understatement. Brian doesn't do this full time, he has a job and other commitments so this if more of a "one man - as and when" type approach, however he is putting major producers to shame. A Picture paints a thousand words...

AAV7 

So I picked up 3 of these, 2 for a Platoon of USMC and the third I will convert into a Command Track. The model is impressive, it's massive just like it's real world equivalent and I've put the recent Zvezda Bradley next to this..

I really love this model, it is rarely seen in 15mm but it's an Iconic USMC Vehicle so is a really good addition for adding flavour.  The other 6 models are much more ubiquitous but still of superb quality...

The All American HMMWV!

You might have noticed, I used BF Weapons from the M113 pack and yes this is a more modern HMMWV rather than a late 1980's one but it makes a very good proxy. I can also use this in other games and with this in mind, I was pleased that Bryan included a fair few spares for turrets and weapons. So my intention is to Magnetise my HUMMERS so I can have 0.50cals, M60's, TOW's. Mk19's etc. 

This is great value for money, as if my gaming group want to do dufferent types of 15mm scenarios I can mix and match my models a bit. 

Here is a final comparison between the IRISH SERB Stuff and the ZVEZDA recent releases.

I will be picking up some LAV-25's both the TOW and the Chaingun variant, and then some M60A3's and my USMC should be complete!

I would recommend IRISH SERB Miniatures over any other producer that has the same models, the Quality is beyond anything else in the Market place!

MIKE

Rewarding Hobby

One of the most wonderful things about running a blog like this, is the amount of e-mails I get, some are requests, some are suggestions, some ask advice, some give me example pictures of models or battles.

By far my most enjoyable e-mails are those from others who share my painting addiction (I genuinely enjoy painting - I would even go so far as I would be content just to collect and paint, wargaming is the cherry on the top, but I could live without it!). There are many who share my fascination / passion / curiosity of the Period of the Mid to Late 80's when the Cold War came it's dramatic and somewhat unexpected conclusion

One such E-mail came from Ralph, and an interesting series of E-mails, discussions on Brass Barrels and other things came up.  I think pictures are much better but here is Ralph's incredible Collection as you can see he has diverse and very interesting tastes. But his Cold War forces are very nice indeed, Enjoy.


COLD WAR - USMC FORCE

"I am 52 years old married and a 9 year old daughter. I have been playing war games for about 35 years. I am into many different war games 1/72 scale WWII air combat, 1/600 scale ACW naval, 1/600 scale WWII MTB & Submarine convoy actions, 28mm WWII skirmish level, 15mm Arab & Israeli wars and 15mm Cold war & Modern (21st). "

"Growing up in the 70’s & 80’s and after reading books like August 1985: World War III and Team Yankee I developed an interest in the Cold war. I first started with 20mm but it was just a little too large for playing a company level and I didn’t like Micro armor (to small) so I switch to 15mm and after years of collecting I have a large collection of AFVs, APCs, Helicopters and infantry so now I can play 70’s,80’s and the 90’s at company level for my Western Allies and Battalion level for my Soviets.   Hope you enjoy the Photo's - RALPH"

BRITISH - CHIEFTAINS & MECHANISED FORCES

BRITISH - CHALLENGER BATTLEGROUP

BUNDESWEHR- WORK IN PROGRESS KAMPFGRUPPE

"The Gazelles are old 1/100 scale Heller plastic models that I bought on E-Bay. The Hummers are Old Glory USA (Skytrex) with Peter Pig .50 cal and TOW Launchers which are better than the ones they come with. The Warriors and Challenger Mk.1’s are also Old Glory USA with Peter Pig WWII British extra storage and stuff from my scrap box also included are some pictures of my QRF Challenger Mk.2"