Monogram MiL-24 Hind "D" in 1/48

OK, it must have been about 4 years ago that I picked up two 1/48 Hind kits by Monogram in a TMP deal. One of these ended up with Conscript Mike F. and has long since been completed. Mine sat in a box and I decided that once I'd painted the BMP for my chemical Commies, I'd better give them some air-transportability too.

I assembled and painted the model pretty much by the book, although I skipped the detailed interior. I found that the interior parts didn't fit that well and I hadn't intended to include opening doors, so there was no point in doing the extra work. I did heed the advice of Mike F. and rig up magnetic mounts for the rotors though. This was done post-assembly but turned out OK.

One thing I did do that I usually skip was to use the clear canopy. I usually paint over canopies because either there's no crew included in there, or I'm too lazy to paint them, but this time I made an exception. The crew figures included with the kit are very nice so I thought it would be fun to make them visible from outside.

Here's another blurry shot of Yuri and Alexei. There's something very cool about the Hind, it's just a purposeful looking weapon. Looking forward to deploying this one in a game soon. I've got a few goodies in store for my MOPP suited '80s Americans that I'm leaving to start until the Challenge begins next week but I anticipate they'll go up quickly...

28mm BMP-2 and a New Camera Debuts!

Two things - I finished painting the very cool BMP-2 I got from Conscript Greg some time ago. Thanks man! Secondly, the 5MP HP camera that I've been using for many years have finally been replaced with a new Nikon S6500. So I've taken this opportunity to try out the new camera in the photobooth.

These pictures are raw, straight from the camera to the screen. I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the new camera. It's a 16MP model and features a very large (for me) 3" screen, wi-fi upload capability and HD video. Should be cool for those YouTube videos I like to post from time to time.

On to the model - it's a 1/56 BMP-2 from Sloppy Jalopy. Moderately easy to assemble but did require some greenstuff work and minor surgery to make the track guards fit. The canvas shroud around the gunbarrel is greenstuff too. I added the aerials out of wire - but I'm not sure I placed them correctly!

The vehicle was basecoated Mechanicus Standard Grey and camo added with Catachan Green. The grey was highlighted with Codex Grey and Catachan Green/Camo Green mix. Chipping was added with Fortress Grey for contrast and decals from a random kit added. The whole thing was washed with Badab Black and weathered with powders. Lenses were painted with a gem technique and gloss coated.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It's nice for the Chemical Commies to finally have a ride. Now I'll have to get to that Hind that's been awaiting paint for awhile...

One last shot from the new camera - it's the Zvezda KV-2 that I blogged about a week or so ago. Amazing what a difference a camera and the photobooth make, eh?

LegioCon Roadshow Game!

LegioCon is a long-running local wargames show masterminded by Bryan and Garth of Legions IV Hire and Maxx Collectibles, respectively. The businesses are local retail establishments that cater to historical wargamers and cardgame/boardgame/tabletop gaming types here in Winnipeg. LegioCon is staged at a local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion that has a lot going for it, not least of which that it is licensed and serves cheap draft beer ;-)

Conscript Greg and I rolled out to the show about noon on Saturday to put on a WW3 game featuring Bundeswehr vs. the infamous Chemical Commies. I set up a pastoral setting with a small German village dead centre in the table.
 

The Bundeswehr had bivvied in the village with a convoy of trucks. The local Fuchs News/Deutsche Welle affiliate had live reporters on the scene.

The German objective was to exit the trucks off one of the short table edges (their choice). The Russians were more numerous but had to split their forces, with half their strength deploying from each short edge.

Commies came strapped with BTRs and scary chemical warfare gear.

Initial dispositions. I know it looks like the vehicles are insanely close together (they are) but for convention games we like the opposing forces to get into action right away, both for time management purposes and to hold the interest of the people playing. On Saturday we had two very cool walk-ups, Ray and John, who played the game along with Greg and me.

Greg's T-80s face off with Marders and a Leopard 2A6 at middle extreme right.

Facing the other short edge, the tanks deployed to support the trucks (carrying Kraftwerk master tapes, Helmut Kohl's adult film collection, or some other cargo vital to the continued existence of the Bundesrepublik) in their mad dash off-table.

"...Klaudia Klum, Fuchs News."

We used our proprietary "Red Storm!" ruleset for the game. It's very fast playing and stuff blows up good, typified by the result when Ray's T-72 went head-to-head with a Leo 2A6... (Ray had been warned by Greg that the T-72s were somewhat cupcake-like in terms of toughness vs. the Leo...)

Bundeswehr command group mit hund. 2IC has iPhone (back row) while the Oberleutnant has upgraded to an iPad (front centre). Soldier with assault rifle carries a Samsung Galaxy S in flecktarn holster.

Trucks begin to roll out of the village. Snipers are in the building at centre and did nothing for the whole game, although true to form for the "cool models" they will likely report back that their presence was instrumental to the win...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, Greg's T-80 is knocked out on the road along with two BTRs. Commie infantry has deployed along the rail cut and exchanges fire with the BW troops behind the hedge.

Ray's T-72 angles for a side shot on the Leopard; he's already knocked out its main gun.

Second Leopard moves out. BW infantry move to support the truck convoy; the Russians had to take the convoy with infantry models as opposed to blowing them up.

"I'm here with Lieutenant Ivanov of the 322nd Motor Rifle Brigade just outside Altfeld. Lieutenant, your squad has just been decimated by Bundeswehr 20mm automatic cannon fire. How are you feeling right now?"

Trucks manage to sneak past in a conga line. Ray just missed winning the Priority roll that would have allowed him to block the convoy with his T-72...

A table full of burning vehicles is the sign of a fun game. Thanks to Ray and John for playing our game, and to Greg for bringing out his awesome Commies and the explosion markers (and for the beer :-)  Roll on PrairieCon in June!!

There was also a bunch of other games going on, including a Flames of War tourney and 40K gaming... but what I really wanted to show you is this...

A couple of guys brought out an amazing modular table on which they were playing a Lord of the Rings game - "The Siege of Pelargir".

The table was 5x10 feet, half of it an amazing medieval-style town complete with harbour, and the other half countryside.

The buildings are all scratch-built from foamboard and other materials. The tile roofing is all hand-cut.

Great detail!

View from the countryside. The city wall has a removable section that has been swapped out for a "breached" section.

Close-up of the breach.

The amount of work and detail that went into this is mind-blowing, as is the sheer quality, especially in the town section. This kind of layout takes a huge effort to transport and set-up for a weekend show and my hat's off to these lads. It makes our convention efforts seem pretty lame by comparison, but at least we're out there putting on a game.

Chemical Commies - And Return of Primer Rage

Funny smell? No worries - the Chemical Commies are safe...

More Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge stuff.  This is a group of Soviet troops in MOPP gear from Eureka.  They are 28mm castings from the special-weapon section of the range - two RPGs, on PK machine gunner and one fellow with a flame thrower.  These troops are known with affection among our group as the "Chemical Commies".

RPG guy on the left shows some effect from bad primer

MOPP gear is very terrifying to see, and the Soviet MOPP gear has to be one of the scariest-looking of the scary.  They are really fun figures to paint, and they were the first purchase of what created a still-unmatched bout of collection escalation amongst the Fawcett Avenue gamers. 

Chemical Commie RPG troops

The fun in this instance was spoiled somewhat by bad primer.  Longer time blog readers may recall that I previously had a run-in with Krylon primer.  Well, that was almost a year ago.  I was out of my "go-to" spray primer, so I thought - what the heck, it's been a year, that must have been a bad batch, I should lighten up and try Krylon again, right?

WRONG.

Flamethrower and PKMG - perfect for everything from NATO to Zombies

Fortunately I was able to somewhat save these figures.  Some Perry Hussars were not so luck (see a later post for that).  So f*ck you Krylon, and the horse you rode in on.

Berlin '85 - Force on Force Battle Report

On Thursday night, Greg brought out his "Chemical Commies" to do battle with my MOPP-suited US Army infantry, a pure '80s style throwdown. The scene is West Berlin, D+3. The city has been pulverised by a conventional and chemical bombardment and the Soviets are on the move, rolling through the city. Conscripts Indo, Mike A. and Hugh ran the Reds while I controlled the NATO force. Greg ran the game; Mike F. and Brian added comments from "behind the lines" ;-)

I laid out a 4x4 foot table for continued amortization of my "Stalingrad" terrain ;-) The Russians entered play from the top of the picture above, with three T-80U tanks and three fireteams of infantry. Their goal was to get as many elements off the opposite table edge as possible, in six turns.

NATO set up their M60A2 "Starship" tank (provided courtesy of Dave V. - thanks Dave!) in an ambush position, eager to test its futuristic gun/missile system against the Soviets. A four man fireteam - one of four deployed in the battle - waits alongside. NATO also had a Bundeswehr straggler with a TOW missile launcher on the table.

You can see the NATO deployment well from here: from left to right, fireteam in the ground floor of the tall ruin second from bottom, with TOW on second floor; fireteam behind the building next to it with M60 tank; fireteam behind the brick factory building, and last fireteam at the front of that building at right. T-80U just visible at top right!

TOW missileer waiting in ambush...

The Soviets won initiative and moved their T-80U up to fire on the M60. Reaction test was made for the M60; the Soviets won that test and blew up the M60.

In the middle they activated another T-80U and moved forward; the TOW missileer reacted by firing and blowing it up :-)

On the Soviet right flank, the last T-80U and supporting infantry moved up, fired on by the NATO team in the building.

Subsequently, the infantry peeled off to attack the NATO team on the ground floor (they had moved back in Reaction to the T-80U taking aim at them with its main gun, and managed to flee before a 125mm round came crashing in on them). The TOW man shot at the T-80U afterward but succeeded only in knocking out the main gun. The T-80U drove in front of the building.

Unfortunately the TOW has a minimum range of 6" so couldn't fire at the tank directly below! You can barely see some Soviets on the second floor of the building at left, preparing to hose down the TOW gunner. He thought discretion the better part of valour and Reacted by moving away from their fire, out of the building and toward the top of the picture, trying to get in position for flank shots on tanks exiting the table.

On the other flank, the NATO fireteam, armed with a LAW rocket, left cover to maneuver out for a side shot at the approaching T-80U. One man was hit by Reactive Soviet fire...

The other NATO team, also equipped with a LAW, positioned itself to threaten the tank's flank if it turned to face the fireteam to its left. (You can see him at the inside corner of the brick building at top left). How clever I am, I thought!
 

As the T-80U turned the corner, dice were thrown for the Reaction test... as you can see, I lost :-( and the tank proceeded to light up my fireteam with MGs. The LAW rocket fired from the other fireteam exploded harmlessly :-(

The tank with the damaged main gun managed to escape the table, and on the sixth and last turn, the last remaining T-80U (the one that just lit up my fireteam) is poised to escape. Russians have the initiative, my TOW is in position and a LAW rocket-wielding infantryman is in the brick building just out of shot to the right...

There he is - his base is just visible at lower left. Hugh activated the tank to move off and Reaction tests were made... result: my TOW gunner reacted first with a shot! The tank moves next if it's still able, then the LAW man acts last. Dice were thrown for a side shot with the TOW... not enough to cause any damage. The tank zooms off table, the second Soviet element to escape.

The game ended with Indo's fireteam absolutely ventilating the NATO fireteam in the building. After pounding each other for three turns (and some amazing chem-suit saves by the commies) my dice finally failed and the team was wiped out. At least the Soviets couldn't escape the table to fulfill their victory conditions! Small consolation for the Americans, though...

So the game ended with two Soviet tanks escaping, one with a damaged main gun. Decent result for NATO I think, although the TOW crapped out on some key shots that might have made a difference. LAW rockets were pretty much useless against the tanks - even from the side - but that's OK, it fit the hapless last ditch nature of the scenario.

I really liked Force on Force for this modern game. Greg really has the hang of running it, and it may be slowly converting me into a fan of the "reaction" system, it certainly adds a great deal of tension and decision points to the game. Although for our really large Modern games I think we still favour simpler IGO-UGO rules like our proprietary "Red Storm" set, for a game of this size FoF is the (nuclear) bomb!