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 warehouse (FoF)

This week I finished a large warehouse for 15mm Force on Force.  I've kept it fairly simple, but the addition of N Scale corrugated sheet for the roller doors at the front adds a nice bit of detail I think.  I was considering looking-up Arabic text for "warehouse" or "garage", to paint a sign above the main door, but decided to leave it generic for now.  Below are a few photos of the warehouse with a Delta Force fireteam securing the structure:

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 houses (FoF)

Today I finished painting & detailing a pair of small buildings for Force on Force.  Looking at the scenario maps in several of my FoF sourcebooks a while back, I noticed that sometimes large numbers of small structures were specified, rather than the mostly medium to large size buildings that I had already put together.  So I am concentrating on bulking-out my collection with basic small buildings for now.  I will be constructing more interesting pieces like over-street walkways, shops, arched structures, & a mosque.  Having purchased some N Scale corrugated sheets,  I have also begun work on shanty dwellings, which should provide a nice contrast with all the adobe buildings.

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.

 

End of Games Workshop Specialist Games

I've read on several wargaming blogs (including here) today about the apparent end of Games Workshop's Specialist Games.  Forge World will also be ending their support of additional models for these ranges.  For me this news is sad.  IMO Battlefleet Gothic, Epic 40,000, Necromunda & Gorkamorka were always better games in rules & enjoyment terms than GW's mainstay brand Warhammer 40,000.

As skirmish games with plenty of suitable figures available, Necromunda & Gorkamorka wouldn't be too hard to put together should I & my gaming comrades want to delve back into them.  The main effect of this news for me is that my long-term plans to gradually add (fantastically sculpted) Battlefleet Gothic models to my existing fleets is now in jeopardy, because once the Specialist Games stock is exhausted, it'll be for good.  I guess there's always a chance of salvaging stuff second-hand from eBay though.

There are many (mainly Imperial & Chaos) ships that I would like to get, but as with all GW stuff these days, the prices are restrictively high.  I can remember when a pair of plastic Imperial or Chaos cruisers were £8.  Now they are £15. I think a metal light cruiser used to be £6ish.  Now they are £10.25-£12.30.  It's now £8.50 for 3 tiny Cobra destroyers, & £20.50 for a battleship.  My favourite was when the Kroot warsphere was still available - granted it was a bulky metal model for BFG... but £45?!  I know it's been said many times by lots of people, but who are GW aiming their products at?

Luckily I have a couple friends who between them have sizable Imperial Navy & Chaos fleets, whilst I have moderate-size Tau Empire, Ork, & (scratchbuilt) Tyranid fleets, so we should still be able to dip into BFG from time to time.

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.