Adventures on the Wargames Table

It's always so exciting when the first boxes and blisters of your new army arrive! Yes, Santa has been very kind here at the table!  There should be just enough figures for a 1942 British Armoured Brigade force consisting of Three M3 Stuarts Three Infantry sections Medic Artillery Observer Medium Mortar 6lb AT Gun Sherman (not pictured) ... although I might swap this for a Grant? I should also be able to build a Boys anti-tank rifle* team and a light mortar team, plus maybe a sniper* team too so as to give me a little more variety in the troops available.  Transports to follow.  Depending upon how some eBay trading goes in the next little while I may add a Humber MkII armoured car. * not actually an option in the armoured list, but fun to build & paint! But it's not all British armour.  Jerry is getting in on the fun too. Two more Panzer III's roll in to give me the option of fielding a 1941/42 Panzer Division force.  This means I'll hav...

... watched their flocks by night?  Technically I suppose they're goat-herds but, hey I couldn't resist a little festive themed post for our North African project. Again, it's all about making the table top look a little more lived-in.  Although I'm sure they'll make a run for it as soon as the shooting starts! The goat-herds are Arab civilian figures from Perry miniatures. The goats are from Warbases. Merry Christmas everyone!

Yes, I've finally slopped some paint on a couple of vehicles for my DAK! ("About time" - says George!).  Anyway, here they are... Decals still to go (awaiting Microsol) but I think they look okay.  The painting "recipe" was as follows:- Undercoat with AP Desert Yellow spray Base coat in Foundry Boneyard Shade Tyres and tracks in black then a quick highlight with a dark grey Wash with GW Agrax Earthshade Highlight with Foundry Boneyard Shade/Mid/Light Pick out details such as the machine guns with black, brown, etc. I think the highlighting with the Foundry Boneyard light went a bit crazy with the 251, but hey after  few months in the scorching desert it's bound to look a bit weathered? I love this little tank!  Packing a light auto-cannon and a co-axial MMG it epitomises early desert warfare. Inspired by chum Orange Dave, I've based them on some Charlie Foxtrot MDF bases.  Still plenty to add ... so lots more to follow.  Thanks f...

I found some barbed Wire sections in an old scenery box!  They were originally made for playing World War One games (WH's The Great War & Dave's Zero Hour) but I reckoned they were more urgently required in the North African desert... So I've "up-cycled" them. They're made from some off-cuts of MDF sheet into which I've drilled holes and glued short pieces of cocktail stick.  Some general purpose filler gives the ground an uneven appearance.  Next, they were covered in stones, sand, grit, etc then painted to match the bases of my figures. The barbed wire is available from a variety of games companies.  Wind it around a large paintbrush handle then spray it black.  Give it a few quick highlights of metal colours (silver and bronze).  A little dab of super glue glue attaches the wire to the posts.  You can also add in all sorts of debris like discarded weapons and helmets, bits of rusty vehicle, etc.

Good chum Orange Dave has made a wadi for our Western Desert campaign and he's asked me to blog about it for him. The sections are based on strips of MDF and he's used a mixture of stones, filler and grit, etc to build the edges.  He has also painted in a few patches of water and added some flock to represent the flora that would grow in the damp ground.  Simple, but really very effective I think! 

You're probably bored of seeing even more of Rommel's finest here on the blog!  Fear not, these are probably the last of the infantry... maybe!? Another 8 infantry with a mix of MP40s and rifles. This allows me to field 6 full squads of schutzen plus a squad of 10 pioneers. Here's an LMG team and a light mortar. What to do next though?  Maybe the Panzer II and the SdKfz 251, or I might switch back to making a few more bits of scenery?  Thanks for looking.

At last, the first game with my new DAK army! I joined chums Mike and Orange Dave to re-fight part of the battle for Mersa Brega - scenario 6 from the excellent new Western Desert campaign book. Mike and I both had 1250 points to face Dave's very well entrenched British force of 1250 points. So, a 2:1 advantage for the Axis forces... but with the town so heavily fortified would it be enough? Dave's British prepare for the onslaught That's one 25lber ... The town, with the ruins of the mosque in the centre, was surrounded by barbed wire, barricades and minefields. ... and here's another! A whopping 39 order dice! The Axis forces began the game entirely off table.  I decided to send my two Opel Blitz trucks on a wide flanking move, having crammed them full of well armed veteran schutzen. My DAK begin their advance The initial attack was to be made by my regular platoon supported by the Panzer II and a SdKfz 251. Mike's DAK make good use of...