BoB: Bloody Red Bolsheviks

14/06/2014

Continuing my trawl through the Boloshevik boxes, and what I didn’t finish painting for the last Big Game a fortnight ago (!):

The elite Bolshevik HMG unit from Copplestone Castings. Obviously the commander is standing up because he is “well hard”. Por encourage les outres.

Putilov half track, very few of these were made and they only turned up late in the day, and I guess mostly under Bolshevik control.

Hence the Red transfers I used.

Built by Byakhee Rich, complete with revolving turrets due to rare earth magnets.A simple Foundry Moss Shade with GW camp wash and highlight of Moss on top.

Filed under Painting, RCW / BoB Tagged with

Wargaming Burble, or a chance to explain future plans (for World Domination)

11/06/2014 1 Comment

Following the Big Game on the 31st I had a few days off – I seem to have a lurking cold and so took some time out for me. During this time I sat down quiet and went through the BoB boxes of troops and re-ordered them. Lending troops out to mates is no hassle, it’s just they never go back in the same order due to a variety of reasons.

One of the outcomes was that I had a fair amount of spare troops that I’d found. So I started flogging stuff off to make room for all the newly assembled troops I had put together. Obviously this lead to requests to other stuff if I had it, so a general clear out commenced.

I’d thought I had a few Bolshevik Cavalry sculling round the playroom, but as it turned out, I had an entire box – yes 32+ command and standards. Against all odds, the separate arms on some of the figures were in the same box, and I had every single one of these separate parts (a later posting illuminates this failing, and the tender heart of a supplier). I managed to attach them and then added liquid greenstuff to the joints so they seem fairly secure.

So it seems rude not to start building them, oh and then painting them.

Then I started on the train station. So far JP & I have got some 14 definites, and another 3 or 4 possibles for our next big game, so we’ll be issuing a deadline shoertly for those who want to attend.

Then I updated my Paint Log.

Sp far this year I have painted the equivalent of 319 figures. Most of this is scenery (61%), so I am going to be switching back to painting some more Warhammer stuff.

In particular, with no planned games until late September, I resolved to organise something every 2-3 weeks on the more fantatsitcal side of things. As such, the newly assembled Morathai figure will be first up for completion.

I intend to complete a new unit or character model for each game I play for the rest of this year. He said with bravado.

So Morathai is due for completion by the 21st.

The shotgun toting unit for AVBCW by 27th september – shirely I can do that they’re been loitering long enough to get a parking ticket ?!

Then there are the Martians, I’d like to get a couple of them done by the end of the month.

Let’s see if I can keep this insane idea up.

Filed under 15mm Sci-Fi, AVBCW, RCW / BoB, Scenery, Warhammer

BoB: Support Weapons

05/06/2014

Some pictures of figures I’ve painted in the last fortnight for the BoB Big Game…Yes I still do paint figures as opposed to scenery !

Matt had indicated he needed a seco nd Turkish field gun, I knew I’d bought one years ago, and promptly found it on the play room floor in a box. Great, so i started painting it up. In an exchange with Matt I suddenly thought it was strange it only had three crew when all the other Brigade & Copplestone field guns had four crew. A quick squizz at the Brigade site confirmed that my pack was one short – having bought it years ago at a games show, I decided to just bite the bullet and order a new gun crew from Brigade who are based in the rebel colonies.

Friday lunchtime, the postie turned up and she gave me a package from Brigade Games – about a week from order to delivery across the pond ! An excellent service from Lon as usual.

So I decided to blitzkreig the painting and get the fourth crew member done !

Having got up at about 6.45am, I had just enough time for the paint and glue to dry before handing it over to Matt at 10.30am. I didn’t have time to add static grass though.The fourth crewman is standing at the back holding a shell. Matt further embarrassed himself when in an accident, the field piece tumbled to the floor. Luckily no harm done.

I’d similarly promised Roo a Bolshevik HMG which was finished on Friday.

And I just about finished the second Bolshevik HMG for Nick on Saturday morning (note lack of static grass !). I varied the paint job and this Copplestone Castings set comes with variant heads for the loader, so obviously varied the heads just to make the two stands different.

An elite Bolshevik HMG was well under way, but as it was not needed got put to one side.

Filed under Painting, RCW / BoB Tagged with , , ,

BoB: Big Game – Важно полустанке Wash Up

04/06/2014 1 Comment

So at the end of the day, and with some time for reflection, how did it all go ?

The Whites and French on Table 1, The Village didn’t do their job and hightailed it.
The Whites and Kuban Cossacks on Table 2, The Steppe, did their job but at a heavy price. The train was nigh on unstoppable.

Overall:

  • The layout of the tables was good – just enough cover but not too much.
  • You have to prevent players turning up, and with good intentions adding more stuff to steppe terrain – the Umpires have to be quite firm on this both for BoB and AVBCW.Adding too much terrain, or unexpected terrain can screw up the scenario(s).
  • Attacking forces MUST have extra troops – a balanced table just doesn’t make it feasible for attackers to break through.
  • Adding at least one extra unit per attacking Player starts swinging the balance the right way (see below).
  • For long games, especially for BoB, standard forces should be of 4-6 units to ensure players have enough troops to play for a full day. We started at 11.30am, Table 1 finished at 4pm, and Table 2 at 4.30pm.
  • I’d have liked to see both tables go til 5pm, as we are now getting very adept at tidying up and clearing the hall.
  • Players need to read the f***ing game rules and scenarios beforehand !
  • Umpires like me, need to get the extra units to hand much earlier. As it was I was up before 7am on Saturday busily painting stuff to hand out to players at 10-11am.
  • All of that said, the scenarios worked out well, with it all being a close run thing on both tables.
  • On Table 2, the players chose deployment zones in areas that I had had in mind with virtually no input from me.

The feedback from the Cats, was unequivocal – they stayed out overnight before coming in on Sunday and sleeping it off and demanding a lot of food and fusses. they really don’t like 8 strange humans in the house being loud, eating curry and drinking booze.

The feedback from the players has (so far) been unequivocal – they enjoyed it.

So playing unbalanced games with proper scenarios is possible, and it still leaves the players in a happy mood. So I have learnt from past Big Games and will do this again in the future. If you do so, then an Umpire / GM is definitely needed.

Even if I am going to get into trouble with the Cats for doing more games in the future !

To follow, I’ll post some of the stuff I was painting before the game, and also some of JP & my plans for the next AVBCW game.

Filed under AVBCW, Cats, RCW / BoB

BoB: Big Game – Важно полустанке Part 4

02/06/2014

Both tables were now at crunch points:

Into the melee, the Don Cossack artillery shell landed – deviating from its target. It killed more Kuban Cossacks than Don Cossacks and allowed the Don Cossacks to win the melee, and then charged into the Kuban Command unit. They captured the Kuban Commander and wiped out the rest of the unit (high fives all round).

Meanwhile the Turks charged and wiped out another White unit and added the Captain’s Wife to their Harem !

At the village, the Whites failed their morale test after being hit by an LMG anda HMG and abandoned the foremost key building causing a ripple effect as the victorious Reds poured in.

Then the train arrived ! Slicing through the melee between the Don and Kuban Cossacks leaving each of them stranded on the wrong side of the track.

The Reds broke through into the village as the ffrench and Whites streamed back.

The Don Cossack plan to leave the A/C on the track was foiled by the Kuban Shock Troopers who assaulted it with grenades and immobilised it and destroyed one of its weapons. They paid a heavy price for this.

Despoite a shot from a field gun, nothing could stop the train getting through.

Which was a shame, because the french and Whites in the village admitted defeat and retreated.

So a Red victory in capturing the village, and a phyricc White victory in getting the train through.

Filed under RCW / BoB

BoB: Big Game – Важно полустанке Part 2

01/06/2014

Out on the Steppe, deployment was complete:

The ragged Whites were reinforced by a horde of Kuban Cossacks !

Nominally “defending” the rail line to facilitate the passage of their General’s train, the ragged Whites surged forward towards the advancing Turks.

The Kuban Cossacks surged forward enraged by the sight of the Don Cossacks in the pay of the enemy invader !

Generic panaoramic view of the table. 🙂

The Whites decided to bring on their reserve unit of some…Cossacks…

And accompanied by an infantry unit, advanced in the centre to prevent the Turks sabotaging the tracks.

The Kuban General moved his infantry and allied Shock Troops up and through a corn field in the centre to link up with the ragged Whites.

Whose advancing troops collided with head strong Turkish troops, who came off better.

The two Cossack cavalry wings also met in close combat.

At this point all four players were thinking this was a key round of combat, and all were wondering when the train would arrive, with much speculation as to how the Umpire (me) would handle an armoured train ploughing through a mixed melee combat with nearly two dozen mounted troops !

Filed under RCW / BoB

BoB: Big Game – Важно полустанке Part 1

01/06/2014

Yesterday’s Big Game went well. The tables were set up, with one featuring the village, and the other the steppe.

Much more open:

On Table 1, at the village the French interventionists and their White “definitely not brigands” set up their defensive lines.

There was much chat about the french running a brothel.

The brave French pushed their colonist levies forward.

The Whites pushed forward.

To be faced by hordes of Reds !

On Table Two out on the steppe, the ragged White Russians set up their defensive perimeter.

Whilst the German hirelings, the Don Cossacks swept in across the open steppe.

Along with their Turkish allies (NB: Matt’s Turks were based for mountain warfare, hence the white bases !).

Filed under RCW / BoB Tagged with , ,

BoB: Turkish HMG

30/05/2014

A Turkish HMG I’ve knocked out for one of the players at tomorrow’s Big Game:

I also have a few Rde HMGs, a Turkish Field Gun and a half track A/C to finish off in the next few hours, so I might update this post later today.

And of course the train which I’ll post, its WIP, but good enough to get on the field of battle.

Filed under Painting, RCW / BoB

BoB: Rolling Stock WIP, and Big Wipes

28/05/2014

As well as books films and baiting AGW deniers, I have been doing some painting. My kitchen table is coverred in stuff that must be ready by Saturday AM – or more realistically Friday PM.

I went and got some emulsion to weather the flat bed trucks as they were just going to be weathered wood. The single pot I had from 4Ground, was not going to cover them all so I had some paint mixed for me when I visited Travis Perkins builders merchants. It is way cheaper to get the paint mixed this way than buy individual pots for scenery and other large projects like a train !

Whilst there I was reminded of another excellent pruchase I’d made – the Big Wipes – nominally for DIY and building work these are a canister of cloths that are soaked in some magic formula that pretty much deals with every conceivable spill of any material. Very useful for their intended purpose – DIY – but also immensely useful for clearing up model paint and fillers. The builders used them extensively. They can wipe up stuff even from carpets.

Here’s the first pass at a couple of weathered flat bed trucks. As this is using emulsion, I was worried it would be too thick (like me). No, its fine providing you really go to town on the dry brushing aspect.

The undercarriage is GW Boltgun metal washed with Nuln Oil. I think they look ok for a wargames standard. As stated, I will add ttransfers and so on to other more important pieces of rolloing stock.

Hopefully tomorrow, Turkish & Bolshevik HMGs will be finished off.

Filed under Painting, RCW / BoB

BoB: Russian Roulette

27/05/2014

Got a new book that’s just come out:

Its mostly an update of Peter Hopkirk’s “Setting the East Ablaze”. It concentrates on the spies as opposed to the more wargame friendly stuff. The numerous disguises and efforts of the mostly british agents to keep one (or two) steps ahead of the Bolshevik Cheka et al, should give good scenario ideas for “Hunt the spy” type games.

It develops a lot of the threads of a lot of the more central Russian events as opposed to the events in Central Asia, so from that perspective is a bit disappointing. However, for aficionados of the RCW its still a good book.

Filed under books, RCW / BoB

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