TFL Painting Challenge: Unprecedented Second Update!

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Well this is a first for this year: so many new entries into the painting challenge that I have had to do a second update this week or run the risk of getting too far behind!

In no particular order, we have:

  • Carole with, you guessed it, yet more Confederates
  • Matt Slade with some wagons and some truly impressive Prussians, all for Sharp Practice 2, released this weekend
  • The Mad Padre, with some 6mm cavalry
  • Mr Plowman, with more 15mm aliens and three strangely familiar 28's
  • Jason Ralls bursts back into life with a large and mixed entry
  • Richard Naylor posts some trees, lots of trees
  • Steve Burt continues to build his Ancients
  •  Andrew Duffell also gets back into the swing of thing with some 28's, including a very nice tank
  • and finally Mervyn makes his regular contribution: more Ancients

That would be a big update even if it weren't the second this week. Makes me quite jealous...and determined to finish the four units/buildings I have on the painting table!

Today's pictures? See below...

just some of Matt's beautiful Prussians

The Mad Padre's 6mm cavalry

Andy's tank (he only sent in the rear view!)

Ralph's Xar...who have me reaching for the 'buy now' button on the GZG website!

Jason's WW2 German artillery: also something that belongs in MY collection!

TFL Painting Challenge: Big Post-Salute Update

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Haven't updated the challenge for a few days, so lots of submissions waiting to be processed. So, in no particular order, we have:

  • Mr Luther with three handfuls of 6mm 'planes and some more terrain for Malaya
  • Andrew Helliwell with some more Confederates in 15mm
  • Carole, also with some 15mm Confederates
  • Andrew McCarthy with an assortment of specialist teams for his WW2 British in 15mm
  • Mr Burt with some Egyptians in 28mm
  • Mervyn pops in an oasis...or is it a lake?
  • Thomas sends in a cheeky fantasy foursome
  • Mr Hodge enters some basing for his minions (or rather, Minions)
  • and finally Owen sends in a plethora of fantasy figures, all in 28mm

Today's pictures are of Mr Luther's terrain for Malaya and, of course, Derek's Minions:

Salute 2016

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Yes, yes, I know: another post-Salute post to join the thousands already floating around the ether!

Well this one is just a quickie, focusing not so  much on the event itself* but on some of the games on show: specifically their terrain.

Terrain isn't really my thing: I'm getting better, but still feel my efforts are weighted towards my figures rather than the earth on which they stand. 

There were three tabletops that I would really, really like to have had the opportunity to get my figures onto:

First up was a terrific Vietnam set-up. Wrong scale, being 28mm, but absolutely lovely:

Then there was the sci-fi Hammers Slammers 15mm sci-fi set up. I was definitely working out whether this one would fit onto my tables at home. It would, by the way, so if the owner ever gets bored of it and needs more space, I will quite happily give it a very good home! 

And finally the sci-fi set-up from Critical Mass Games was great as well: 

Three amazing tables that really inspire.

*Actually I thought Salute was quite good this year.

I had a great journey in: I drove and didn't encounter any of the roadworks that have blighted previous years' journeys...it's almost as if they have finally got that area sorted out road-wise. The £15 for all day parking was a bit steep, but at least the machines were accepting credit cards instead of demanding two fistfuls of coins to satisfy them.

I arrived about 10.15 without a ticket. Walked straight up to the ticket booth and bought one, no queue. Got myself a sandwich and a coffee, ate them, then walked straight in to the show with no delay at all. Another amazing improvement on years gone by.

I thought the show was busier than last year. Still the same horrid floor and dull lighting, but I can put up with them: the eyes soon adjust and there's plenty of places to sit down.

I noticed that there seemed to be a lot of new, teeny-weeny traders as well as the expected big ones. That bodes well for the hobby: lots of new trader blood coming in. I understand that a couple of the massive stands (GW, or a derivative thereof) were collection-only...and that they seemed to be the ones with the queues. In all, however, a good mix, and I was able to find some decal-softener.

Good lunchtime drinks at the Fox with some of the Lardies: some of whom seemed to have led very sheltered lives, but I digress...

I ended up spending far too much money, as per usual, and on a real mix of things. Some Battlefront pre-painted terrain from Team Yankee; some trees; a hill; some of Battlefront's new Pacific-theatre Japanese tanks; some more Israelis; decal-softener; and a few sci-fi bits and pieces. A good haul that will doubtless be on show here at some stage in the future.

One thing I did notice that was different to the last few years: more BO! Maybe because it seemed busier visitors-wise this year, but there were a couple of occasions when I caught a full blast of sweaty wargamer: not very nice and, as I said, unusual compared to previous years. 

In all, a good Salute this year. 

 

IABSM AAR: A Game

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I'm at Salute all day today, but just have time to load up a quick AAR from Murphy's Heroes from a couple of year's ago.

I was lucky enough to visit the club whilst on holiday near Delft a couple of years ago, and I will tell you that you cannot meet a nicer bunch of wargamers anywhere. They even let me win the game we played, didn't they, Derk?!!

Anyway, I haven't a report on that game, but click on the pic below to see how this game went:

Q13: New Releases from Khurasan Miniatures

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A quick glance at the Quadrant 13 galleries and army lists on this site will show you that I am quite a Khurasan fanboy. Their 15mm sci-fi ranges are, I believe, some of the best available.

Khurasan are still not posting news of their new releases on TMP (a dispute about sock-puppetry, I believe) so you'll have to like their Facebook page to keep up with what they are doing...or read about it here, of course!

Their latest release is an expansion to their rather nice Soriog range. For those of you unfamiliar with the Soriog, they look like this:

Soriog infantry with energy rifles

Now added to the range are the Raug infantry, client soldiers to the Soriog in the same way that the various states in India provided troops to the British Empire throughout the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Just to hammer home the point, the Raug infantry are even known as Ceepays!

Here they are:

Raug infantry with autoguns

Squad support weapons

Platoon command: Soriog magnate-officer, officer's veteran Soriog assistant, prostrate Raug Ceepay runner, and Raug Windhowler.

Now these are rather nice, and I like the way that the platoon command gives you a bit of character to work with.

I'll produce a Q13 army list for the Soriog/Raug in due course (I like to have the figures in my hand when I do so), and am even wondering how they would fit in with Critical Mass' Protolene Khanate range:

You can visit the 15mm sci-fi pages of Khurasan's website by clicking here.

IABSM AAR: Another Canadian VC

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Here is the third battle report for I Ain't Been Shot, Mum! in as many weeks that uses the A Canadian VC scenario from the IABSM v3 rulebook as the basis for a game.

This time we go back to 2013, and an AAR from the Hotlead convention. CJR, on his blog TwoThreeSixMM (a reference to the scales he plays) describes the action from a double-blind game i.e. played on two identical tables with the Germans unable to see what was on the Canadian table and vice versa.

Click on the pic below to see how it turned out.

6DW: More Israeli Infantry

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Here's the second platoon of Israeli infantry finished for my Six Day War mechanised infantry company.

It's always a hard slog through the main infantry element of any new force: a minimum of about a hundred 15mm infantry is always going to take time...but that's two of the three platoons done now, so given command, weapons platoons etc, I'm about half way through.

Here they are:

CDS AAR: CDS at Call to Arms 2015

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Last week, I mentioned Dan Wade's superb blog Wade's World of Wargaming. Well, last year, Dan put on a Vietnam demo game at Call to Arms using Charlie Don't Surf!  and a mash-up of a couple of scenarios from the CDS scenario pack, Surf's Up!

Dan reported on the demo game, and how he later played it through to a conclusion at home, over a series of blog posts which (and I hope he doesn't mind) that I have combined into one glorious battle report.

Click on the pic below to see his superb terrain and figures:

TFL Painting Challenge: Update for the Saturday Before Salute

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Everyone is obviously clearing their painting tables in preparation for stocking up at Salute next weekend!

In no particular order, we have:

  • Carole with some Confederates and Civilian-types
  • Mr Naylor with some Iraqis
  • Double G pops in some Hearthguard
  • WillieB enters two battalions of 28mm Napoleonics...and they are his leftovers!
  • Egg appears for the first time this year: some 15mm WW2 French
  • Steve enters the last of the Mo-Parthians
  • and Mervyn sends in a couple of 1:48 tanks and some 15mm hills

Today's pics?  I think Carole's civilians (I'm a great fan of tail, as it were); some of WilleB's French; Steve's Parthians and one of Mervyn's 28mm AFVs:

Carole's civilian-types:  Blah-blah, baa-baa, oink-oink!

A close-up of WillieB's Nappies

Parthians from Steve Burt

A Hetzer from Mervyn

CDS AAR: Tank Only Action

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Dan Wade writes a great wargaming blog called Wade's World of Wargaming. There are loads of great posts and great pictures showing off Dan's collection of beautifully painted figures and terrain.

One of Dan's particular interest is Vietnam, so here's a very quick pic-only AAR from the period which I hope he doesn't mind me reproducing here. The game features a bit of tank-only action: click on the pic below to see all...

Sharp Practice: Advanced Orders Now Being Taken

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Exciting news from Lard Island: with advanced orders for Sharp Practice now being taken.

Sharp Practice is the TFL large scale skirmish game designed for use from the Napoleonic era to the end of the catalytic wars.

Here's what Big Rich had to say about the release:

The rules are at the printers, the cards are being produced, the Poker Chips are en route and the Game tokens are rolling off the production line.  That can only mean one thing: Sharp Practice will be released on St George’s Day later this month and we are now taking advanced order.

And what spankingly good advanced orders we have for you too.  You can, of course, get the rule set on its own, but there are also five bundle deals which you can select from which provide some assistance when playing the game.  Let’s take a look at what these bundles contain.

The Rules

It's a 120 page book which contains the rules and Army Lists for five different conflicts.  These are the French Indian War, the AWI, Peninsular War, ACW and Indian Mutiny.  

However, the rules won’t stop there.   We have lost of other periods ready as free downloadable Army lists covering stuff like Garibaldi in Italy, Napoleonic warfare, Revolutionary Wars in Italy, US Mexican Wars and a whole host of other exciting stuff.

The Cards or Poker Chips

You can choose whether you want to use a card deck or pull chips from a bag or cup.  It’s entirely up to you which you use.  You will need ONE set or cards or chips to play a game.  You do not need one per player.  

The poker chip set are 34 tokens in engraved MDF which are very easy to paint up and look superb when they are done.  The cards are a proper poker standard set with rounded corners and come in a tuck box.  As it happens we got 40 cards to a deck as this suited the printer card sizes so the card deck is slightly larger.

Game Tokens

A set of 18 acrylic tokens to indicate when units Present (ready to fire a controlled volley), when they are firing an uncontrolled volley and when they are broken.  We have played many many games and this set of 18 tokens have been all we needed for any game situation.  No need to duplicate unless you are really going to push the boat out on game size.

We will be posting photos of all of the items as they arrive from suppliers, for now you’ll have to trust us as to the fact that they are all designed for purpose and rather swish.  Here’s the bundles in detail.

The Bundles

Bundle 5

The monster of a bundle with everything anyone would wish for on the Sharp Practice front.

  • Hard Copy rules with 120 pages packed with army lists, scenarios and, of course, the game rules.
  • Bumper Card Deck of 40 cards
  • MDF Poker Chip Set of 34 Chips
  • Game Token set in acrylic
  • Free PDF of the rules.

At £38 this saves you £21 as a bundle.

Bundle 4

Chips with everything  (as per Bundle 5 but no card deck)

  • Hard Copy rules with 120 pages packed with army lists, scenarios and, of course, the game rules.
  • MDF Poker Chip Set of 34 Chips
  • Game Token set in acrylic
  • Free PDF of the rules.

At £34 this saves you £19 as a bundle

Bundle 3

Card Sharp (as per Bundle 5 but no Poker Chips)

  • Hard Copy rules with 120 pages packed with army lists, scenarios and, of course, the game rules.
  • Bumper Card Deck of 40 cards
  • Game Token set in acrylic
  • Free PDF of the rules.

At £35 this saves you £19 as a bundle

Bundle 2

Rules & Chips

  • Hard Copy rules with 120 pages packed with army lists, scenarios and, of course, the game rules.
  • MDF Poker Chip Set of 34 Chips
  • Free PDF of the rules.

At £28 this saves you £17 as a bundle

Bundle 1

Rules & Cards

  • Hard Copy rules with 120 pages packed with army lists, scenarios and, of course, the game rules.
  • Bumper Card Deck of 40 cards
  • Free PDF of the rules.

At £29 this saves you £17 as a bundle.

These bundle orders are for the hard copy rules with extras and they PDF comes free as a “thank you” for placing an advanced order.  Please note, the free PDFs will be sent out on the 23rd of April, the release date.

We will be releasing the PDF bundles on the 23rd of April which will cover the PDF versions of the rules along with bundles of hard copy cards, chips and tokens, so if that’s your bag keep your eyes on the web site or Lard Island News for more details.

The TooFatLardies shop can be reached by clicking here.

TFL Painting Challenge: Another Big Update!

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The entries for this year's challenge are flooding in!

Today we have:

  • Doug Fitch with various WW2 German figures in 15mm for use with the Blenneville or Bust! scenario pack (I'll look forward to receiving your AARs for publication on this site!)
  • Carole has been painting houses rather than figures: six of them to be precise
  • Mr Luther has been churning out impressive amounts of jungle terrain for the Pacific. He's looking at Malaya, so doubtless loved my Slim River AAR and the Fall of the Lionsgate scenario pack
  • Chris Stoesen pops in some AWI figures
  • Kev sends in another brilliantly painted X-Wing spacecraft. This one is painted de-cloaking: looks amazing.
  • Sapper keeps us traditional with a couple of large 28mm Ancients units pictured in action at Roll Call.
  • Owen sends in loads of figures from a fanyasy setting that, for the moment, escapes me
  • Mr Helliwell demonstrates that particular breed of madness with which we are all familiar: he has now painted, and is still painting, more Confederate infantry than will fit on his tabletop
  • The Mad Padre sends in his first entry of the year: some rather nice Unionists in 28mm
  • And finally Mr Hodge sends in some more bases (obviously), a few 15's, and what he claims are the last of his Gwŷr y Gogledd for Dux Britanniarum. We shall see...

Phew! Now, pictures:

15mm Panthers from Mr Fitch

Indian Bowmen from Sapper

Kev's De-Cloaking Spaceship

Scorecard will be updated tonight.

IABSM AAR: Slim River

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Scenario #10, Slim River, is one of my favourite battles from the Fall of the Liongate scenario pack for I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum.

Taking place on 7th January 1942 (i.e. a month after Pearl Harbour), the Japanese have been hammering down the centre of Malaya, smashing most British Indian troops aside, and slowed only by the efforts of some Gurkha regiments and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. To continue their advance, they launch a sudden thrust down the single road that leads to the village of Trolak, their objective being the bridge there over the otherwise impassable Slim River.

Click on the pic below to see if the Japanese manage to take the bridge:

6DW: First of the Israelis

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Now that the UAR/Egyptian forces are just about done for the 6DW, it is time to start on their opponents: the Israelis.

I've actually painted six Israeli tanks of various types, but haven't been able to get the decals needed to finish them off, so the honour of being the first Israeli unit finished goes to the first platoon of a mechanised infantry company:

These are Battlefront figures, undercoated in a light desert colour, washed with a dark brown ink, and then highlighted with various shades of flesh and greens. It's an effect that looks a bit rough and ready up close, but works really well on the tabletop and in AAR photographs.

Only another two platoons, the weapons platoon, and all the support weapons to go!