TFL Painting Challenge: Big Bank Holiday Update

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Vast numbers of entries into the 2018 Painting Challenge coming in. I really must try and do two updates a week rather than the current one!

Still, it gives me the chance to post a Big Bank Holiday Update so, in no particular order, we have:

  • Egg with some Bundeswehr, billboards and, yes, farmyard equipment
  • Andrew Helliwell, fresh from Paris, with some French
  • A truly enormous entry from Matt Slade:  hordes of Ancient British followed by large numbers of dwarves and trolls and the like
  • An almost-equally-enormous entry from Stumpy:  German Fallschirmjaeger guns and such accompanied by some US Cavalry and French Marines
  • Travis has been building fences: lots and lots of fences!
  • A bumper entry from Carole:  Gripping Beast 28mm Late Roman plastics
  • Chris Cornwall sends in a platoon or two of WW2 French infantry along with two BT-5 tanks. I'm tempted to give him double points as he mentions how much he liked my Blitzkrieg in the West; The BEF theatre handbook for IABSM in his e-mail!
  • And last, but by no means least, Mr Burt pops in some Minifigs Malburians

As always, clicking on the name of the gallery owner in the list above will take you straight to their gallery (opens in a new window), and here are today's pictures:

And don't forget that the next in the series of my Blitzkrieg in the West theatre handbooks for I Ain't Been Shot, Mum! should be available tomorrow.

This time it's the Low Countries:  Belgium and the Netherlands.

Recommendation: "The Attackers" aka "Istrebiteli"

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Those of you who have Amazon Prime and are looking for something to watch could do worse than try "The Attackers": a Russian TV series of 12 episodes centering on the adventures (both in the air and on the ground) of a squadron of Soviet pilots in 1943.

Yes, the series is full of stereotypes (the nasty political officer, the ex-nobleman, the cold-hearted female pilot, the innocent novice etc) but it's also well written, exciting and, as far as I can see, reasonably historically accurate.

The aerial sequences are well shot, even if the CGI are sometimes a little clunky, and I love the way everything from the uniforms to the 'planes themselves just look so battered. A good proportion of the main cast is female, and they seem to spend half the time fighting the Germans and half the time fighting off the unwelcome attentions of their male colleagues.

I also like listening to the Russian (it's sub-titled) and am rapidly learning how to say the equivalent of "sir, yes, sir" in that language.

I've certainly been interested enough to get to episode 10, and will have finished the series before the end of the bank holiday.

Here's the title sequence to whet your collective whistles:

IABSM AAR: North of Caen

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I was browsing the 'net, as one does, and came across David Burden's excellent blog Converj. 

On there was an equally excellent account of his first game of IABSM: a solo game split across four or five posts and using the North of Caen scenario from the rulebook.

I hope he doesn't mind (as I haven't found a way of e-mailing him) but I've merged his posts into one AAR for you all to enjoy.

Click on the pic below to see all, and make sure you visit David's blog to see the other good stuff on there.

Coming Next Tuesday: Blitzkrieg in the West: The Low Countries

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Just in case people were wondering why it's all still been a bit quiet on here lately, it's because I'm still working hard on the series of Blitzkrieg in the West theatre books for I Ain't Been Shot, Mum.

The French and BEF handbooks are already available from the TooFatLardies website, and I'm pleased to announce that the handbook covering the Low Countries - Belgium and the Netherlands - should be available to buy right after the Easter Bank Holiday weekend i.e. Tuesday next week, 3rd April.

The handbook is 88 pages long (bigger than either the French or BEF books) and contains two separate sections: one on the Belgian army of 1940, and one on the Dutch army of 1940.

The Belgian section contains 16 separate lists covering everything from the Active divisions through to the Cavalry and then on to the Chasseurs Ardennais and Border Guards. There's also a section on the forts and bunkers positioned along the Belgian border.

 
 

The Dutch section contains 17 separate lists covering everything from the First Line divisions through to the Light and Peel divisions through to the three independent brigades, the cavalry and the various territorial commands. There's also a short section on defending the airfields and another on the defence of Rotterdam.

Both the Belgian and Dutch sections contain a lot of background information, so the handbook should be useful for players of other game systems as well.

So don't buy that extra Easter egg: save your money for Tuesday morning and a trip to the Low Countries!

TFL Painting Challenge: Thursday Update

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Hello all. Despite the rigours of real life, there always time for a quick update to the Painting Challenge...and what an update it is. Lots of inspirational paint jobs to admire and emulate, and a volume of work that's nothing but impressive.

So, for today's update, in no particular order, we have:

  • Travis with some more 28mm WW2 Japanese...now joined by some 28mm late war German vehicles as well
  • Matt Slade & Ralph Plowman have, between them, produced some lovely Celtic Champions
  • The first of two "first entries of the year" : Kev "Fat Wally" Lowth is back with some more SYW Hussars
  • And the second "first entry of the year" award goes to Jason Ralls, with a host of WW2 kit in two different scales
  • Stumpy has been basing like crazy
  • Mervyn has an assortment of fantasy figures for us
  • The Hat, Lloyd Bowler, has sent in a lovely unit of Iberian cavalry
  • And last, but never least, there some Sharp Practice markers from Carole.

As always, clicking on the name of the gallery owner in the list above will take you straight to their gallery (opens in a new window), and here are today's pictures:

Iberian Cavalry from the Hat

A Sturmtiger from Travis Hiett. Note the "thrown track" marker that ca be used to indicate the vehicle is disabled

SYW Hussars from everyone's favourite Fat Wally

Shock markers for Sharp Practice/The Zulu Years from Stumpy

A rather nice R-35 from Jason Ralls

Some of Matt and Ralph's Celtic Champions

Late War German Infantry Squad

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What with real life and working on the IABSM early war theatre handbooks (the Dutch and Belgian handbook is out at the end of the month:  almost broke me!) I have had no time for either painting or gaming so far this year.

So I'm quite pleased to be able to post that I've finally managed to finish the first of nine late war German infantry squads, shown here on a custom-made sabot base from Warbases:

The figures are Plastic Soldier Company in 15mm.

Just think: only another eight more squads to go. At this rate, the company will be finished sometime in 2019...not a very good showing for this year's painting challenge!

IABSM AAR: Over the Hill

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Here's a great looking battle report from the Devon Wargames Group, playing the Over the Hill scenario produced as a free PDF download by Rich Clarke the author and co-partner of Too Fat Lardies during the early incarnation of the rule set and easily converted to the latest version of the rules.

The scenario along with others is available to download from the Lardies Yahoo Group, which is well worth joining if you are interested in the best WWII Company level rule sets available!

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Toofatlardies/info

Click on the pic below to see all:

TFL Painting Challenge: A Monday Update? Ridic!

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Yes, it's a Monday update to the Challenge: occasioned by heavy traffic over the weekend!

In no particular order we have:

  • Chris Cornwell, painting early war Germans for the Wargames Holiday Centre
  • Mr Helliwell with the last of his medievals (didn't he say that last time?) and some ECW
  • A bit of WW1 with some lovely figures from Blue Moose Ken
  • Egg bangs in the support for his Bundeswehr
  • It's Caeser adsum iam forte* from the Hat: Romans galore
  • Travis sends in his final Japanese squad, and some houses
  • And last, but by no means least, Mr Plowman has some WW2 Romanians for us to see. Very nice.

As always, clicking on the name above will take you straight to their gallery (opens in a new window) and I'll update the Scorecard tonight.

Today's pictures:

Bundeswehr support from Egg

Blue Moose Ken's WW1 British. The thing about uniform is that it isn't!

WW2 Romanians from Ralph Plowman

Romans from Lloyd Bowler

ECW horse from Andrew Helliwell

*Translation:  Caesar had some jam for tea

IABSM AAR: Lucky Shot!

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One of the great things about the IABSM Facebook page is that it encourages people to post a few photos and comments about their games, even if they don't have the time to write up a full AAR.

Sometimes, however, all the various bits and pieces posted on FB about a particular game add up to what is effectively a full AAR: a group effort if you like!

Mike Whitaker, for example, posted a note about an incredibly lucky shot in a recent club game: an Elefant spotted despite cover, distance and the weather, and then dispatched by a single shell from a 17pdr, despite a considerable difference in Strike and Armour values.

The German player, Gary Martin, then replied:  giving an outline of what happened in the rest of the game. Put the two together, and Lord Salisbury's your uncle...

Click on the picture below to see how I've stitched the various posts and pictures together into an AAR.

TFL Painting Challenge: A Quick Thursday Update

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The sun is shining and it looks like being a glorious day, despite the fact that four inches of snow are apparently on the way.

But we don't care: not whilst there are figures to paint. Being snowed in has its advantages...

Today's entries into this year's TooFatLardies Painting Challenge are as follows:

  • Matt Slade with some wonderful 7TV robots, Avians and aliens, and Napoleonic casualty markers
  • John Haines attempts to keep Mrs May happy with three new houses...and some British AWI Dragoons!
  • More pyrates from Mr Burt
  • A teeny tiny entry from Mr Stoesen: stacked muskets
  • Treadhead has been a very naughty boy: the Monty Python Spanish Inquisition set and some Undead
  • It's Star Wars time for Chris Kay
  • Sapper strikes back with some French Dragoons
  • Travis Hiett adds to his WW2 Japanese force for Chain of Command in 28mm with some support weapons
  • Mervyn has been preparing for a 20mm imaginations campaign, and recycling old skirting boards into flight stands
  • And last but by no means least, Sapper has a jumbo entry: eight Ghaznavid elephants

As always, clicking on the name above will take you straight to their gallery (opens in a new window) and I'll update the Scorecard tonight.

Today's pictures:

Just some of Matt Slade's robot women

"Nellie the elephant packed her trunk and said goodbye to the painting table"

Japanese 20mm AA gun from Travis

Mr Haines:  somewhere for the above to live!

IABSM AAR: Near the Niemirov Ferry

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Here's a quick battle report from Ioannis Pavlidis, take from a recent post on the IABSM Facebook page.

It's 1941. A unit of Soviet soldiers has fallen back in disarray in the face of the overwhelming German assault. The German spearhead has now moved on, leaving a force behind to mop up the battered Soviets, who have fallen back to an abandoned barracks not far from the Niemirov Ferry crossing.

Click on the picture below to find out what happened.

Painting Challenge: Major Update (and Captain Impressive!)

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Seems like ages since I updated the Painting Challenge, but it's only been about a week. Must be all the work for the publication of the BEF handbook for IABSM yesterday that makes it seem longer. Anyway, to business: in today's update, in no particular order, we have:

  • Matt Slade with a cornucopia of colourful creatures
  • More 1/72 medievals from Andrew Helliwell
  • Some more terrain from Mr Stoesen
  • A big entry from Stumpy: Napoleonics and ACW
  • Blue Moose Ken has some lovely 28s to show us
  • There's a whole bunch of Modern vehicles from Chris Kay
  • Sapper strikes back with some French Dragoons
  • There's a cracking first entry from Travis Hiett: Lieutenant Tanaka's WW2 Japanese platoon in 28mm
  • And last, but not least, Derek is still at the Mad Max 20mm vehicles

As always, clicking on the name above will take you straight to their gallery (opens in a new window) and I'll update the Scorecard tonight.

Today's pictures:

A cracking first entry from Mr Hiett

Mongol types from Blue Moose Ken

French Dragoons from Sapper

More modern cavalry:  Chieftains from Chris Kay

Would these stop the Chieftains? Some rather nice anti-tank guns from Mr Hodge.

Frenchies from Stumpy

Blitzkrieg in the West: The BEF Now Available

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I'm very happy to announce that Blitzkrieg in the West: The BEF, the second of the series of theatre handbooks covering the early war in the West is now available.  It covers the British Expeditionary Force from 1939 to the fall of France in 1940. Designed primarily for use with IABSM v3, the handbook will still prove useful to all players of WW2 company-sized wargames.

This incredibly detailed guide to British forces, written by me, is 75 pages in size and is packed with data, including the following British forces:

  • From the Infantry Division
    • The Infantry Company
    • The Infantry Battalion Carrier Platoon
  • From the Motor Infantry Division
    • The Motor Infantry Company
    • The Motor Infantry Scout Car Platoon
    • The Motor Infantry Motorcycle Company
  • From the Line of Communication Troops
    • The Line of Communication Infantry Company
    • The Pioneer Infantry Company
    • The Searchlight Infantry Troop
  • From the Reconnaissance Troops
    • The Divisional Cavalry Squadron
    • The Armoured Car Squadron
  • From the Detached Element of the BEF
    • An Infantry Company from Saar Force
  • From 1st Tank Brigade
    • A Tank Squadron from 4RTR
    • A Tank Squadron from 7RTR
    • Parkes Force
  • From 1st Armoured Division
    • A Paper-Strength Armoured Squadron from 1st Armoured Division
    • A Tank Squadron from the Queen's Bays
    • A Tank Squadron from 10th Royal Hussars
    • A Tank Squadron from 2RTR
    • A Tank Squadron from 5RTR
  • From Calais & Boulogne
    • A Best Guess Tank Squadron from 3RTR
    • A Motor Infantry Company at Calais
    • A QVR Motorcycle Company at Calais
    • The Guards at Boulogne
  • From the Beauman Division
    • An Infantry Company from A Brigade
    • An Infantry Company from B Brigade
    • An Infantry Company from C Brigade

With additional sections on the Second British Expeditionary Force, other British independent formations, fielding British forces, rating your forces and a comprehensive armoury. 

The handbook is available in PDF format only from the TooFatLardies website. Click here to go straight to that page.

Coming on Thursday: Blitzkrieg in the West: The BEF

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Just in case people were wondering why it's all been a bit quiet on here lately, it's because I've been working hard on the series of Blitzkrieg in the West theatre books for I Ain't Been Shot, Mum.

The French handbook is already available from the TooFatLardies website, and I'm pleased to announce that the handbook covering the British Expeditionary Force should be available to buy on Thursday this week, 1st March.

Covering everything from the Regulars to the Territorials, from the Pioneers to the Searchlights, the BEF handbook will give you everything you need to field a British force in May/June 1940. There's a lot of background info too, so the handbook should be useful for players of other game systems as well.

TFL Painting Challenge: Quick Update

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Lots of entries in already this week, so a quick update to avoid a backlog!

In no particular order, we have:

  • Chris Stoesen with more scenery
  • Joe McGinn sends in his first entry of the year: and it's a big one from the Congo!
  • Two quick submissions from Mr Slade: some rabble rousers and some casualty markers. Wonder if they're connected...?
  • Andy Duffell sends in another 28mm tank
  • Egg is also back: two 4ground houses and some modern Canadians in 15mm
  • Carole is back to the 15mm sci-fi, with some lovely GZG hardsuit wearing infantry
  • And last, but not least, is Sapper, with some more Prussians and a nasty surprise for Edward II.

As always, clicking on the name above will take you straight to their gallery (opens in a new window) and I'll update the Scorecard tonight.

Today's pictures:

Sapper's Edward II and entourage

Cabbages from Mr Stoesen

A Firefly in 28mm from Andy Duffell

Late War German Panzerschrecks

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The good news is that I've finished the first draft of the Belgian Army handbook for IABSM v3. That should be out in a combined Belgian/Nederlands pack on 1st April, following the BEF handbook which is still on track for publication on 1st March.

The bad news means that all the research and writing is severely cutting in to my painting time. All I have managed to finish this week is three late war German Panzerschrek teams for my Aufklarungs Kompanie.

Nice figures from The Plastic Soldier Company, but it's going to be a long haul to finish the main body of the infantry!