Well, well, well - once again it's been a while. It's not like nothing has been going on - but still I've been slack with the blog. So today I plan to rectify that with a completed model. The first model of my planned Norwegian force which bizarrely is a Northrop F-5A(G) jet fighter. Just because...
So here it is:
This all started a month or two back when it was a nice day and I had a bit of black paint left in my airbrush so I decided to try something new (with aircraft anyway) which was well beyond my skill level.
So I black attacked a couple of planes I had sitting around with my shakey hands!
Obviously I decided the one that would get actually painted was the plane that required just one colour - the F-5.
So on the next nice day (few and far between here back in January/Feb) I got out my Vallejo Model Air colours and did this
And then added decals
Then I took all the stuff out of the cockpit
And now some fun shots:
Thanks for looking. Hopefully the next post will be a bit closer than 3 months!
It's taken a while but I've finally finished an updated version of the British AFV Data Cards that should cover all of the vehicles in the 4 current British Army Lists. (I do have plans to add at least 2 or 3 more...)
It was fun to add in a bunch of new vehicles - some were simply missing, some were slightly older vehicles which in my thinking could have been pulled out of storage and prepped ready for some kind of use, some were only ever prototypes, some are purely speculative but worth including because your imagined Cold War Gone Hot timeframe might be slightly different to mine.
I'll also put the link into the Data Cards tab at the top of the page and on the AirLand BattleGroup page on Facebook.
As I always say, there may be the odd mistake in these cards - I hope not, but it's quite likely. If you spot anything, let me know and I will make the required changes.
Also if your favourite British Army vehicle is somehow missing - let me know and I'll see if I can add it. There are 3 spaces available on the last page for anything I forgot.
The extra keen eyed will also not I've changed the AP values on the Scorpion, Saladin and Centurion 105 AVRE. I've not been happy with the changes I made earlier so have updated them again to hopefully better reflect their lack of a kinetic AP round and reliance on HESH rounds.
The Scorpion and Saladin Data Cards now look like this:
So after doing this blog for 15 years or so with a little bit prompting I've decided to expand my online presence (ha ha!) by starting a new Facebook group specifically for my completely Unofficial Cold War variant of the WW2 wargame rules "Battleroup".
You'll note I have called the group "AirLand BattleGroup" rather than "Battlegroup Something". This is to, with any luck, protray the period - the mid to late 1980's when the AirLand Battle doctrine was being implemented and the game - Battlegroup, in one slick heading. Well, that's what I was hoping anyway!
I classify myself as a reforming luddite so I made several mistakes in creating the group. So you might find a second group called "Airland Battlegroup" - a slightly different style to the page below. Just ignore it!
You can find the real group here on Facebook and it looks a bit like this for now:
Yes - with 2 whole members - one of whom is me! The other is a non-wargaming mate who tested the group for me to see if it was working!
There a couple of innocent questions to answer and then you to can be counted as one of an elite number of group members!
Over the course of the next few days I'll be adding a lot of the files from this blog onto the Facebook Group. Also a bunch of other documents I've found over the years from various places - including other Facebook groups - but at least I can have them stored all in one place rather just than sitting on my laptop.
Hopefully the Facebook group will become a useful resource and maybe help drive the game forward a bit faster - giving me the kick in the pants to work on some new stuff with your help.
I'd also like it to be used to test new ideas, start useful discussions, answer questions etc. I want it to be a fairly dynamic situation where we test ideas and rules and see what we can do to make the game better. I'm keen to see what other people think.
So please join the group, let people you game with or are aware of who are interested in the Cold War and Battlegroup know about it as well. I'm sure it will be a slow start, but let's see where this goes. You never know - if there turns out to be enough interest maybe PSC will see a way forward to publish an Official Cold War variant of Battlegroup. Fingers crossed.
This blog will of course continue - it will just be more closely linked to the Facebook group.
Merry Christmas everyone - this time with a bit of a French flavour. It's taken quite a while to put this all together, but today I've uploaded the all new French AFV Data set.
You'll notice straight away that there are a few vehicles here not currently found in any of the French Army Lists. That will change at some point in the future but for now you'll have the stats to include these vehicles in games if you so choose.
A few new vehicles in the French AFV data cards includes ( but is not limited to)
- Leclerc Tank
- AMX-30B2 Brennus
- AML 60-20 Serval
- AML-20 Eclairage
- Panhard VBL
- AMX-10 RC Surblinde
Many of these vehicles are listed as "Speculative" under the rules, some as int he "real" world they only came in the early 1990s, but prototypes were around in the late 80's - others because they were export vehicles or prototypes which did not necessarily see service in the French Army. I've included these for fun, as i could easily imagine the French deciding maybe not to send those armoured cars to Africa as planned, now they're involved in WW3 in Europe!
You'll find them all here and they will also appear in the Data Cards section of the blog accessed at the top of the page.
As always, if you find any errors, please let me know and I will make the required changes. If your favourite obscure French AFV is missing and you'd like it included, again - let me know and I'll see what I can do.
The last of the original Data Cards that needs updating is the British AFV set and they're next on my list to do. Then we'll start working through the East German, Polish and Czech Data Cards. Then maybe the Swedes and the Finns, who also require Army Lists... Still so much to do.
Thanks everyone. I hope you all have a great Christmas break and I'll see you in the New Year.
I'm not exactly sure why it's been such a long time since I posted here - it feels like the last few months have been a bit of a blur. Anyway - I'm rectifying that right now with some additional HMMWVs I recently finished. Well... finished to a point - no crew painted as yet - but I'll post them up when I get them done.
Here's the latest group
There's a range of models in the photos. The HMMWV with the slightly different camo is actually a Dragon diecast where all I've done is add a Mk-19 automatic grenade launcher. All the rest were made and painted by me.
Some close ups
And now the little horde as it currently stands
Pretty happy with that progress - but still a few more Hummers to go before I've finished with this lot.
Sticking with my recent North American theme, I've also managed to finish a few vehicles for my Canadian battle group. The first of these were amongst the first models I ever 3D printed on my old Saturn printer. I learnt a couple of lessons on these, but never felt the need to reprint them - I can live with the small errors.
So I really wanted to print some Canadian Lynx's - based on the American M113 1/2 C&R. They are a unique option - only really fielded in this particular format by the Canuks and I find this AFV to be a very interesting choice for a recce vehicle. It forces the Canadians to pursue "recce by stealth" as their only real option. "Recce by fire" is right out the window when your heaviest weapon is a .50 Cal HMG - unless you manage to borrow some Leopards - a fairly limited resource and not recce trained really.
The Tank Museum has done an excellent Tank Chat on the Lunx that you can find below
Anyway - onto the models - which are all Bergmann prints which you can find for free.
This is my Platoon Commander. I converted this model by drilling out the drivers hatch so I could open it and install an Elhiem crew figure. I also added an Elhiem Miniatures .30 Cal MMG to the rear hatch. The track commander is a AB FGigures British WW2 tank commander. I think this all worked out quite nicely.
The second vehicle in the Platoon Commander's section is more plain, but does come with the additional .30 Cal and a nice red bike for quiet recce's!
The Platoon Sergeant's track get's his own little blue bike!
This is the second Lynx in the Platoon Sergeant's section.
This is the Platoon Commander's section
And the Platoon Sergeant's section
And this is the whole platoon, ready for action.
The next vehicle is a little bit different, but interestingly enough based on the same M113 chassis. The is the ADATS CDN, with ADATS standing for Air Defence Anti-Tank System. It's basically a short ranged missile system, equally capable of engaging and destroying aircraft, helicopters and tanks (and other armoured vehicles of course). Fom what I understand it was a pretty decent/capable system - and was even trialled by the US Army - but it was a late comer - arriving in Canadian service in 1989, and being killed off in America due to the end of the Cold War.
In my Cold War Battlegroup variant it is currently available for the Canadians as a Speculative Weapon. So of course I needed to have one - or two.
This is the ADATS CDN in firing mode.
This is the ADATS CDN in maintenance mode, with the platform on the sides of the vehicle raised. The radar is in the stowed position as it would be under non-combat travelling conditions.
And finally the two vehicles together.
That's it for today. Maybe some more American stuff next time.
