Palm grove

This week I put together & painted a palm grove for 15mm-scale 'Lebanon 1982' Crossfire gaming.  Same recipe as the Lebanese woodland in my last post - laser-cut MDF area & disc bases from Fenris Games, textured with sand, painted, & detailed with Gale Force Nine static grass & flock, plus some tiny stones.  These soft plastic trees are less realistic that the deciduous ones in my previous post, but I think they look alright for gaming purposes, & are nice & durable.

These palm trees could also be used with my 'Day of the Rangers' Somalia figures, once I finish rebasing them from Force on Force to Crossfire.

I had some trees left over from making these terrain areas, so I also made a few stand-alone trees.  These won't have any in-game effect, they will just be dotted about to enhance the tabletop battlefield.

Mercedes Benz cars

This weekend I painted a couple 15mm-scale retro Mercedes Benz cars for Crossfire.  These will be nice little scenery pieces to add some detail to my Middle East & African tabletops.  The black & maroon cars are 5-piece metal models (car body + wheels), & the wrecked car is a single-piece resin cast (which I painted a while back); all from the excellent Peter Pig.

I'll be buying a couple more of these, & maybe leaving the wheels off one to paint as a rusty/ burnt-out wreck.  The centre of the wheels  left off this wreck could be drilled-out to make a little stack of tyres to enhance a scenery piece.

I've just noticed that I forgot to paint the number plates of these cars. Doh!

Small ruin

I knocked-up this small ruin to add to my 15mm-scale Middle East/Somalia collection.  As usual, it's made of 5mm & 3mm thick foamboard, textured with modelling paste, & gritted with sand in places, before painting & drybrushing.  A straightforward build, & nice change from making the usual intact adobe block buildings (especially fiddly ones with removable floors!). Shown here with a fireteam of IDF, based-up for Crossfire.

URAL 4.5 ton truck (FoF)

This week I've been putting together vehicles for 15mm scale Force on Force.  First off the production line is this URAL 4.5 ton truck (although I still need to add weathering & scuffs to it).  This is an excellent 11-piece model from Peter Pig's AK-47 Republic range, with minimal mould lines & nice detail.

I initially bought it to represent a UN food truck in Day of the Rangers (early '90s Somalia) scenarios, but it could equally be used as a transport for my Syrian PLA or Iraqi Republican Guard troops, or as a stand-in for US M939 transport trucks until I can source some 15mm models of those.

UN aid workers (FoF)

Next up, two UN aid workers for 15mm-scale Force on Force.  I need to paint another four of these for Day of the Rangers, as there are two scenarios from the sourcebook in which US forces must protect UN workers in Mogadishu.  I picture the bloke as a European or US national working on the front line of crisis relief.  The rest will be native African workers.

The figures are from the Rebel Minis 'Modern Civilians' pack.  As with all my single-based 15mm figures, these are mounted on 1p pieces.

Rubble & Trash (FoF)

Some scenarios in Day of the Rangers call for certain areas to be 'Rubble & Trash Strewn', which slows the movement of UN/US forces.  I thought it'd be neat to have some scenic pieces to mark these obstructed streets (either placed down the centre or at the sides of the roads).  So this week I put together six Rubble & Trash markers, using large lolly sticks as bases, & tiny chunks of 5mm foamboard, chips of wood, sections of cocktail stick, & a broken button-popper, textured & bulked using paint thickener (essentially pre-mixed all-purpose filler), & with the usual sand ground effect:

Somali Hostile Mob (FoF)

This weekend I put together a hostile mob for Force on Force (15mm scale).  As mentioned previously, I've gone with a two-base approach to represent mobs.  This allows for 'column' placement in streets & alleyways, as well as 'broad' placement in open areas.  Also the size of the mob can be halved if it suffers significant casualties in the crossfire.  In Force on Force Hostile Mobs aren't an actual physical threat to regular forces, but they can raise the Stress Level of units using Taunts.  This degrades the combat effectiveness of regulars.

I looked at photos & footage of the sort of messages daubed on placards & banners in African & Middle East protests, & noticed that often the phrases used can read a little odd to native English speakers - hence the bloke holding the "GO OUT USA" sign.  For variety I trimmed the placard of the "USC" (United Somali Congress)-supporting man.  The guys hauling TVs & a tyre are busy building a barricade.

The miniatures are a mix of Rebel Minis Modern Rioters, & Peter Pig AK 47 Republic Looters.  The bloke in the red baseball cap is a Rebel Minis Modern Civilian.  He's a bit on the fat side for 1990s Somalia, but I figure he's a USC agitator well-fed on stolen UN food aid.  The bases are laser-cut ply from Fenris Games.

Mixed Mob Somali civilians (FoF)

So far this week I've finished painting 20 single-based Somali civilians for 15mm-scale Force on Force.  This should be plenty for use alongside militia gunmen for Mixed Mobs (an ethically challenging prospect for opposing UN/US forces).

These figures are a mixture of Rebel Minis Modern Rioters for the 'hostile' blokes, plus Peter Pig AK47 Looters & Civilians, & Peter Pig Sudanese Women.  I think these figures all blend well together.  It was nice to paint some non-combatant & female miniatures for a change.

Hostile Somali civilians (FoF)

This week I painted up some 15mm scale hostile Somali civilians.  I will use these (alongside Somali gunmen) in Mixed Mobs for 'Day of the Rangers' Force on Force scenarios.  My next batch of single-based Somali civilians will be less actively hostile, & will include some female figures in traditional African dresses.  Mixed Mobs are a challenging prospect for the UN / US player, as he will want to avoid civilian casualties where possible, but when faced with armed militia amongst groups of civilians, this becomes very difficult.


 The figures are mostly Rebel Minis Modern Rioters, which are excellent sculpts with very realistic proportions; although their hoodies make them a bit more suitable for Western/Northern unrest settings.  I have saved the figures with placards for use on Hostile Mob bases, whilst there is another variant in the pack wearing a trenchcoat that doesn't fit the African setting.  The mini with the chainsaw is from the Peter Pig AK 47 Republic Range Looters pack.

Tier One Personality (FoF)

Today I finished a 'Tier One Personality' for Force on Force games in Somalia.  I was specifically thinking of Osman Atto (financier of Aidid's militia) when I was painting this figure, as there is a scenario of his capture in the 'Day of the Rangers' book; but I'm going to be painting-up a group of similar figures which can represent High Value Targets or hostages.

The figure is from the Rebel Minis 15mm Hostages pack.

Wrecked car (FoF)

Here's a wrecked Mercedes (from Peter Pig's 'AK47 Republic' range) that I painted a while back.  It's a single resin piece.  I'm pleased with how the windows came out as it was the first time I've attempted painting a glass/canopy effect at 15mm scale.  A small but neat bit of scenery for Middle East Force on Force games.

Middle East / Somali graffiti (FoF)

During my recent more-productive-than-usual phase I've been adding a few graffiti slogans to my Force on Force buildings.  As I'm trying to focus on Mogadishu scenery for Day of the Rangers at the moment, I copied or adapted most of these from DVD extras stills of the sets from Black Hawk Down.  The amateurish depictions of guns & hurried scrawly style hopefully will lend a bit more character to my terrain.  I think they have a generic enough feel for use in wider Middle East settings too.  In the future I will have to print-off some tiny posters to plaster about on the walls too.  Here's a selection of the graffiti - the total amount of blank wallspace in my scenery compared to these is high, so the street daubings won't dominate:

Middle East barricades (FoF)

This week I put the finishing touches to my barricades for use in Middle East & Somalia games of Force on Force.  I purchased these from Peter Pig, & they have a bit of a WWII look, but I think they work well for a modern setting.  I added metal poles (cocktail stick segments) & broken wooden posts (matches), plus some N Scale corrugated sheet to make the pieces look a little more ramshackle & each one a bit different.  As there was a coffin on each piece the corrugated sheet hides & cuts down on these too (I thought an occupied coffin in all 4 barricades was a little much).

I lavished a lot of painting time on these, but I wanted to get them right as they are characterful pieces, & very useful for Day of the Rangers games where Somali mobs can construct such barricades to hamper the US & other international forces.  I need to look out the spare tyres I have leftover from some 15mm scale technicals, & add those, as historically the Somali barricades included plenty of burning tyres.  If I can stretch my skills to painted wire-wool I may actually include the fire & plumes of black smoke.

 

Somali militia part 2 (FoF)

This weekend I finished my 2nd batch of Somali militia for 15mm scale Force on Force.  In order to fit in with the Day of the Rangers scenarios these are all 'armed rabble', so I've painted them completely in civilian clothes.  Next I'll need to paint some with camo tops & trousers in the mix to mark them out as 'hired gunmen'.  I'll probably use a mix of BDU & 'chocolate chip' desert schemes, plus some of the many patterns used by militias in Lebanon.

Apologies for the poor lighting in this photo, it's a very grey day here.  I'll be painting some more armed rabble after the hired gunmen, & I'm planning to try out some more patterns on shirts next time, for variety.  I'll also have to paint a lot of civies for the civilian mobs...

Somali militia part 1 (FoF)

It's been a very busy month with family commitments for me, but I've finally started painting some 15mm Somali militia.  I'm going to need to do a lot more of these militia men for Force on Force Day of the Rangers games...  I will be painting them in batches of same colour tops on each pose variant, to speed the process along.  Once they are all mixed together there should be plenty of variety.  I'll have to try some patterned shirts too.

The camera has made the paint jobs look brighter than they really are.  Camo tops or trousers will mark-out the 'hired gunmen' on the tabletop from the less experienced/skilled rabble in civilian dress.  The figures that are gesturing are the leaders.  It's quite fun painting varied civilian clothes for a change.

Delta Force fireteam (FoF)

Yesterday I finished this 4-man Delta Force fireteam.  I've had another busy month where I haven't found much time for wargames stuff, & my 2nd batch of 15mm Warhammer Quest corridors have been proving problematic - either an inferior mix of all-purpose filler or the biting cold have caused the wall texturing to flake away repeatedly.  So I needed a mini project to get me going, & a Delta Force fireteam were perfect.  These are intended for use in Day of the Rangers scenarios, but they will do nicely for spec ops troops in other settings.

They are Peter Pig USMC, painted in the same way as my Rangers, but with their body armour and helmets coloured black.  I filed-down the helmets to smooth-out the cover texture & make them look more like the non-ballistic helmets worn by Delta Force in Somalia.  I've been saving the figures with scopes & forward hand grips on their rifles to use as spec ops.  Apologies for the poor quality of the photos, it's been difficult to find decent light during these recent grey weeks.  I have a pair of Little Bird helos to glue together, for these & future operators to ride on...  & of course a Black Hawk.

US seriously wounded (FoF)

Following on from my last post, here are 6 US Seriously Wounded markers for 15mm Force on Force.  Again, these are Peter Pig USMC figures that I've painted in the same scheme.  I used gloss varnish on the blood.

US Ranger force (FoF)

I spent a lot of time painting them up, but this weekend I finished my US Ranger force.  I'm quite pleased with the results, & these Peter Pig minis are particularly nicely sculpted.  After a bit of research into uniforms I went for 3-colour DCUs for the fatigues & helmet covers, with the Woodland pattern body armour.  Although technically during the Somalia intervention in 1993 the Rangers had the older (as seen in the Gulf War) 'chocolate chip' pattern helmet covers, this means I can use these figures for Day of the Rangers games right up to Road to Baghdad (2003), where they can be used as Rangers, USMC or US Army soldiers.  This force covers what is needed for the 'Objective Badger' mission from Road to Baghdad, where Rangers are providing a cordon around the Al Qadisiyah Research Centre whilst operatives fruitlessly search for evidence of WMDs:

After reading lots of online tips for painting modern 15mm figures, I opted for brighter tones rather than sticking slavishly to tonal accuracy - at this scale when you are looking over a table of 15mm figures, the effect seems better.  Below is the Combat Controller, the GPMG team & the sniper team:

...& here are some more photos showing the Ranger chalks:

Ruined building (FoF)

Below is a medium-size ruined building for 15mm Force on Force, which I finished yesterday.  It's made of foamboard & all-purpose filler over polystyrene chunks, with sand for the grit & small stones.  I had Road to Baghdad in mind when I painted this up, but it will be suitable for any setting really.

IDF & desert board (FoF)

On Sunday I went up to my friend Tim's flat for a couple runs through an IDF vs. PLO ambush scenario, based on Korengal Ambush from the 'Enduring Freedom' Force on Force sourcebook.  It was a good refresher on the rules.  Our friend Dom came round, & now he is hooked on FoF.  He's going to collect British & Argentinians for Falklands scenarios initially.  I'm now making him a couple of grassy gaming boards & some Falklands scenery as a gift...

Here are the IDF I painted for the ambush game (I'm finally happy with the fatigue tones, though I'll add a net effect to the helmets & bits of static grass & flock to the bases):

I finally got round to making a 2' x 2' desert gaming board for FoF.  I had the Contracting Trouble & Korengal Ambush scenarios in mind for this, but hopefully it will see plenty of use in all sorts of Middle Eastern (& Somali) engagements.  I will be leaving this one at my friend Tim's flat so I don't have to take it with me when I travel up there - I'll have to make another one for myself.  It's a thick chipboard base, covered with sand & drybrushed up through five stages.  I filled in the sides with tinted all-purpose filler to improve the look.