IABSM AAR: Arnhem Game

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Not really a full battle report, but more displaying the pictures of a recent IABSM game that tiger1arnhem posted in the Photos section of the TFL Yahoo Group.

Apparently he had written a full AAR, but lost it all due to technology issues. I feel his pain, and can only repeat the mantra "CTRL+S, CTRL+S"!

Click on the picture to see more:

Those of you who do wish to submit full AARs, whatever size or quality, for IABSM, CDS or Q13, can do so by e-mailing me at the same address as for the painting challenge: adminATvislardicaDOTcom.

Gebirgsjaeger Heavy Mortars

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I think I'm going to need a bigger table.

With a minimum range of 76", I shall need to put my new unit of German Gebirgsjaeger (mountain troops) Heavy Mortars somewhere out in the garden in order to be able to actually use them in a game!

So why did I bother to buy and paint them up?

Don't know: except for the fact that they are some of the really good Gebirgsjaeger figures from Battlefront - those of you who have read my review of the range (click here) will know that for some reason the Battlefront 15mm Gebirgsjaeger range is neatly divided into two halves: one half being some of the nicest 15mm figures I have ever seen, the other half being one of the worst!

Well, of course I do know why I bothered: it's because they're on the list.

Yes, of course the main reason I have got them is because the IABSM army lists for late war Gebirgsjaeger say that they have heavy mortars as support at Battalion and Regimental level...I've just chosen to ignore the comment that follows stating that they should always be considered as off-table and be actually represented by an FOO unit!

Maybe one day I will get a chance to field them...once the extension is finished!

Here they are:

TFL Painting Challenge: First Update of 2015

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Here is the first painting challenge update of 2015. I wasn't expecting to post one so soon, but some of you have been so quick off the mark that it seemed churlish to wait.

  • First off the blocks was Richard Naylor, with a cheeky 4Ground house. Still waiting for a picture, but logged at 5pm on 1st January: an impressively quick start to the year.
  • Next up we have Richard Danziger, with three 15mm tanks.
  • Finally we have the first of what I am sure will be many entries from Matt Slade. Obviously working like a demon over Xmas, he has already finished over 200 points worth of achievements for 2015. Looks like he's out to break that 5,000 point barrier whilst us mere mortals can only wonder at how he does it!

Today's pictures are from Mr Slade. One of his dwarf pics, and a couple of bug pics. Wish mine looked as good as that!

TFL Painting Challenge: The Last Day - Fourth and Final Update!

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Well that's the end of the 2014 TooFatLardies Painting Challenge!

Fifty-five people entered, and have produced fifty-five galleries full of inspirational miniatures.

I'm not going to list who scored the most points, or who painted more of this type of figure than anyone else: that wasn't the point.

The point was to encourage us all to paint a bit more and, hopefully, improve our painting and photography skills along the way...and it seems to have worked. Lots of you have posted on the TFL Yahoo group about how much this has indeed got you painting more, and the sheer number of last-minute entries proves the point. Thanks, by the way, for all your kind words re me running the challenge: much appreciated.

On a personal note, I managed 898 points...missing out on my target of 1,000. That does, however, give me two numbers to aim for in 2015: beating my score for 2014 and reaching the elusive 'Grand'.

The 2015 TFL Painting Challenge starts now. I'll post the empty scorecard as soon as I have time, and you get a gallery once you've entered something! I have a zug of Gebirgsjaeger heavy mortars on the way, so I'll hopefully lead the way!

Finally, there were a few last minute entries that snuck in just before deadline:

  • Mr Ralls with some Austrians and WW2 British
  • Mr Hodge with a large Normandy church and some Paras
  • and Mr Douglas, with eight minutes to spare, with eight 15mm  horse archers

Here are Mervyn's last minute horse archers:


TFL Painting Challenge: The Last Day - Update 03

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More achievements being submitted in a desperate attempt to beat the midnight GMT deadline!

What's good about this lot is that they represent people who have really pushed hard to get their entries in on time...and we even have yet another newcomer.

So, the list...

  • Mr Bloggs attempts to catch Thomas with a mixture of fantasy figures
  • But Thomas is having none of it with an equally mixed bag of figures seemingly taken from the very bottom of the lead mountain, but giving him a respectable score for the year of just over 300 points
  • Mr Plowman sends in his second entry of the day: I think the paint is still wet on these ones
  • Stumpy with more re-basing: this time over 250 Soviets (would drive me potty doing all that re-basing)
  • Leif with some big figs
  • Mr Bax just manages to get himself over the 1,000 point mark with some more of those lovely arctic figures and some CoC jump-off points
  • And, literally last but by no means least, Jim Murray pots some beautiful 1/144 aeroplanes and (a man after my own heart) some big 15mm tank units

And to show we have no bad feelings towards Mr Murray for spurning the painting competition until the very last minute, here are his BE-2s:

TFL Painting Challenge: The Last Day - Update 02

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Second batch of today's last-minute entries.

In addition to another huge batch from JdTN, we even have a new entrant: Andy Duffell and his Fantasy/CoC figures.

Don't read that last bit aloud! 

So, in this update we have:

  • Alexandros and three 28mm vehicles
  • Joakim and some Dust-ers
  • the aforementioned John de Terre Neuve with another bucketload: taking him up to an impressive 1,300 points or so
  • and the tardy Mr Duffell, with 800 points or so's worth of fantasy and Chain of Command figures.

For everyone else, there's still time to get your entries in!

This update's picture is from Alexandros, an internal shot of an SU-76M:

Oh...okay then...and here's shot from one of new-kid-on-the-block Mr Duffell's entries, a rather lovely StuG:

TFL Painting Challenge: The Last Day - Update 01

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Some huge entries coming in as people suddenly realise that the deadline is upon them!

In the first of today's updates, we have:

  • John de Terre Neuve with an extraordinary catch-up entry, some of which dates back to March, that sends him straight over the 500 point mark with a very nice collection of 20mm and 28mm figures and vehicles
  • Proving that anything is possible at the last minute, Kohn submits his first entry for 2014: some 20mm tanks
  • Ralph Plowman adds to his total with some mounted sergeants
  • And the Mad Padre empties his sleeves with a big 15mm painting entry and a colossal 6mm re-basing project that takes him straight and well over the 1,000 point mark

Ideally I'd like to picture all the entries here, but I'm afraid you'll have to look at the individual galleries as there are just too many pics for a post. Here, however, is one of JdTN's entries, and one (just one!) of the Mad Padre's re-basing shots:

TFL Painting Challenge: The Penultimate Day

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Pleased to see that the entries keep coming in for this year's painting challenge.

Just to clarify, the deadline is 12 midnight GMT on the 31st (tomorrow!) with any entries after that counting as in 2015.

Today's achievements are from:

  • Egg, with some lovely 15mm buildings. 
  • Dave Humm with lots of 20mm WW2 infantry and some fun 28mm Gingerbread men
  • Jim Catchpole returns with some more Maurice figures
  • Leif also returns with some DAK 20mm figures

And today's picture? I think two, again: Leif's SdKfz 222 and Mr Humm's Gingerbread men

TFL Painting Challenge: The Deadline Approaches

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Well it's the 28th of December and the deadline for this year's painting challenge approaches.

Quite a few entries from people squeezing in just one more unit in order to hit a certain points total: Mr Luther, for example, flies through the 3,000 point mark with four 6mm aircraft doubtless pulled from the depths of the lead mountain.

Quite a few entries from people saying "this will be the last one for this year" or "I thought I might hit x points, but now won't". What defeatist talk is this? It is only the 28th: there are still three days to go.

So, come on chaps: one more push...and no saving stuff for next year!

Today's achievements are from:

  • Mark Luther hits 3,000 points with four 6mm aircraft
  • Dick Bax gets ever closer to the 1,000 mark with some 28mm sci-fi figures and drones
  • Jon Yeungling pops in what he claims are the last figures for 2014...
  • Mr Danziger and twenty-four US infantry
  • And Mr Hodge with loads of re-basing and a couple of AA guns

Just to confirm, the challenge will definitely be running next year.

Today's picture is of Mr Bax's excellent "cold weather troopers":

IABSM AAR: Pasting The Padre

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Exciting news! I have taken advantage of the Christmas break to catch up on the re-loading of content onto the new website, and am pleased to say that all the previous IABSM after action reports are now done. That's a huge library of battle reports to browse at your leisure, many with complete scenario information allowing you to re-play the action for yourself.

To celebrate, here's a new AAR, Pasting the Padre, which gathers together the reports written by James Mantos and the Mad Padre about the same game of IABSM played in November this year.

Click here or the picture to read the report; or use the top navigation bar to go to the IABSM After Action Reports section of the website to see literally hundreds more! 

German Kettenkrad

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I've been a little worried that my Gebirgsjaeger (German Mountain Troops) won't be able to move their equipment around properly, especially in harsh terrain or weather conditions.

Problem solved, however, with eight Kettenkrad (motorcycle tractors) painted up as crewed by Gebirgsjaeger.

I must confess to feeling a touch of pride here as, at time of ordering, Battlefront only provided crews in either the standard infantry helmet or the Fallschirmjaeger helmet, not the cap that most of my existing Gebirgsjaeger wear, so I bought some cap-wearing spare heads from Peter Pig and did head-swaps on half. Not exactly the apex of conversion skills, but more than I usually manage!

TFL Painting Challenge: Xmas Eve Update

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The TFL Painting Challenge doesn't break for Xmas...and just to prove it, here's a quick Christmas Eve update.

Today's achievements are from:

  • The Mad Padre, with some very nice 28mm Commandos that take him to within 70 points of the 1,000 point mark
  • Jim Catchpole with some sci-fi terrain that takes him over the 1,000 point mark
  • And Jon Yuengling with sixty-four arab infantry. Jon claims to be running out of steam, but is still quite a few locomotives ahead of me!

Pictures wise, I'm going slightly back in time with some hots of Mark Luther's treeline, claimed just the other day. Forget Santa coming down the chimney tomorrow, I want Mark and his terrain collection instead...I'll even leave him a glass of sherry and a mince pie!

Website Update: Malaya Day Nostalgia

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The Christmas holidays mean I have more time to finish re-loading all the content onto the new VL website. 

I'm still working my way through the IABSM AARs, and great fun it is too. I have done all the scenario pack AARs, and the one-off game AARs, and am now working my way through the TFL Games Day AARs.

I have just finished uploading all the reports from the 2006 Malaya Games Day: a colossal battle involving over a battalion of infantry on either side at 1:1 scale, with the Japanese trying to force their way through the Lardak position, held by British Indian troops.

Click here to go to the IABSM AAR page. The Malaya Games Day reports are in the right hand column, down near the bottom.

Here are a few photos to whet your whistles...

Table2.025.jpg


Even More Gitungi Goodness!

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I have now finally finished the last of the Gitungi that I bought as part of the Micropanzer sale. This makes the army totally viable: with Big Men command figures (sadly lacking from most of my sci-fi armies), a solid mass of core troops, and plenty of support units backed up by some rather nifty specialists.

Units finished in this batch were:

  • the drone operators (very cool: loving the boom-arm aerial thing)
  • the anti-armour guns (nice AT weapons)
  • the HMG drones (I prefer the Assault Cannon drones, but got these for completeness)
  • some scouts with jump packs (I like these, and think they will prove very useful on the battlefield)
  • four huge battlesuits to bulk out my powered armour platoon.

That's it now until the sluog-riding kill team arrives...or Micropanzer release more models!

Drone Operators

The bulked-out Powered Armour Platoon

Scouts with Jump Packs

Anti-Armour Cannon

TFL Painting Challenge: Catchpole Breaks His Duck!

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Not a reference to a dropped resin war-mallard, but the good news that Mr Catchpole has finally got round to submitting some entries for the 2014 painting challenge. Quite a lot of entries actually!

So, today's achievements are:

  • Mr Catchpole with a marvelous 990 points worth of painting and rebasing. Just think: if only you could paint another 10 points worth and submit them before the end of the year...
  • Carole with miles of bocage and a pond
  • Mr Bax with some very nicely painted 28 and 20mm figures
  • Mr Luther with even more miles of scruffy treeline. No photo so I had to estimate the points at the equivalent of two 28mm houses. Mark is now only 22 points away from 3,000 points with just eleven days to go.
  • Mr Slade with four delightful Minions
  • Mr Yuengling with a couple of 15mm buildings

Today's picture? Well, I think we'll do two (it is Xmas after all). Here are Mr Slade's Minions and a nice tow from Mr Bax: