Me(c)h..

We've all done it, right? picked up some nice-looking models with one aim in mind, and ended up going off on a tangent that may end up being a new ruleset, army and scale?

Well, at Warfare this year I picked up some spider drones from GZG to see if they would work as unusual mechanical spiders for my Ramos Crew for Malifaux, plus a couple of walker drones to cannibalize and make a Mobile Toolkit for the same crew.

However, having scratchbuilt/modded the Mobile Toolkit fairly successfully, I had a couple of spare walkers and I was also a little unconvinced by the Spider Drones - they were just a bit too big really for the look I wanted. One of them is going to end up becoming a Brass Arachnid for Ramos (as it only seems to be available in a box set and I already have all of the other figures in it) but that left 5 spare ones.

So, the idea of having some NATO and WARPAC walkers to add to my Cold War Commander armies started to crystallize... sort of a "Weird World War III" thing going on, or possibly more realistically a gateway drug to 6mm Sci-Fi gaming. A bit of discussion with the ever helpful folks on the BKC/CWC Forum later and the idea started to take shape...

Anyways, these are the initial results:

NATO Combat Walker carefully avoids stepping on a greenhouse.

3-tone NATO cammo helps them blend in...

Well, sort of. I think it's this one from Ground Zero Games 6mm Future Wars range.

Walker supported by NATO 6mm infantry

Parked up next to a Leopard II

Parked and blurred (sorry)

A Russian-build 6-legged Spider Walker opens up on NATO infantry at close range

The Russian scientists had initially found that making a 6-legged walker was a huge technical challenge, however given their role as "the baddies" they felt it was worth persevering with the more sinister and evil look the 6-leg articulation gave the walker, and eventually the Spider Crab Walker was born.

Originally called the Spider Walker by NATO, it was renamed the Spider Crab Walker in recognition of many Russians rather unseemly love of sushi.

The bright green night vision searchlight allows the Spider Crab Walker to be effective in all weather conditions, as well as allowing it to hide effectively under beds.

Walkers and H&R AFVs and infantry

The idea of having Walkers in the same force as an M60 just amuses me ....

20mm Modern Figures

Not really Easter-themed in any way, shape or form, but here are some pics of the most recent paint jobs and a game of Ambush Alley Force on Force (the "The Alamo" scenario from the Road to Baghdad book) to enjoy

I don't play this game anywhere near half as much as I should, especially now we have managed to get the rules into an almost intelligible shape at the club... but buying the figures sure is addictive! 

VEPA Figures added to the 20mm Moderns Directory

I've just been contacted by a relatively new company, VEPA Figures, who do a small and growing range of 20mm Moderns - so their website has now been added to the 20mm Moderns Directory on this site.

That means you can also go to the Directory and rate their figures on a 1-5 scale, and compare them with the other 18 (yes!) metal figure ranges listed there.

The Heroics & Ros Rapier Unit - assembled

Having needed a Rapier battery for some time to round out my Modern British force for Cold War Commander, I finally got round to buying a Heroics & Ros Rapier unit at Warfare 2013. This had sat in my to-do pile for some time as I puzzled how to put it together....

... and so eventually I asked for help from the nice people on the BKC Forum. Clearly several other people have been through the same thought process, and so I posted some instructions on this site to help explain how to put it together. Here is the outcome:

Force on Force pictures

No science to this, just some pictures from a recent game of Force on Force played at the club. 6th scenario from Enduring Freedom if you are interested, with old-style Matchbox British Paratroopers (in 80's gear!) taking on the Vegetarian Liberation Army forces in Afghanistan

As usual, all images get larger if you click them ... 

Bovington Tank Museum

Unbelievably, having never been before, I've now finally made it to Bovington Tank Museum!

The results are 270 photos of WW1, WW2 ad modern armour all in small, medium and as-big-as-your-screen sizes for you to gaze at adoringly, or use as inspiration for your latest small scale painting scheme.

So, if you ever wanted to know what colour the road wheels were on a PzIV, or how to paint the spade attached to the side of a Tiger I, this is the gallery for you. 

Enjoy!

Britannia Miniatures 20m British Leyland- DAF DROPPS Logistics vehicle

At Warfare this year I picked up a British Leyland DAF DROPPS Logistics vehicle from the lovely chaps at Britannia Miniatures - this is for fairly morphable use (as all lorries look alike, of course!) in some of the Force on Force scenario's that require a transport vehicle of some sort.

The shipping container on the back is a separate piece, so it may well also appear as a piece of scenery in it's own right - a useful touch. If you look carefully you can see where I added a strip of magnetic sheet to the bottom of the container, which helps it stick onto the thin bit of metalized card that I added to the opposite surface of the vehicle.

The vehicle was painted in a black undercoat, then roughly done in a thick wash of a Miniatures Paints Dark Sand.

The by-now-familiar to regular readers wash of Army Painter Strong Tone gave it a messy brown overwash, which was then highlighted with more drybrish layers of the original colour, and then some GW Bleached Bone.

The container was done in a similar technique, but I think I used Miniatures Paints Olive as the base colour, leaving the British Osprey helmet-ed crewman in a non-obviously British plain uniform and body armour combo so he could pass as an American if needed. The windows were done in the textbook "bard blue and then some stripes of progressively lighter blues in one corner" technique often seen on miniature houses.

I think it's a great little piece all in al - robust, useful and brushes up very well.

I've got a load more pages with links to all of the 20mm modern manufacturers I know (and an online voting/rating system for the figures) on my website here

NATO armour in 1/300th scale

Just to prove that I've not been doing Xmassy things relentlessly for the last few weeks to the exclusion of painting and gaming, here are some pictures of NATO 1/300th scale armour that I've been working on earlier this year and only just gotten round to photographing.

The Brits !

Leopard II command unit

Retro-style M60 

1/300th Modern British on eBay

I'm currently selling some 1/300th scale modern British on eBay - photos of the chaps here. Click any photo to go to the auction for more details:

Scimitars and Scorpions

The complete force

Sultan CVT Command vehicles

MRLS and Artillery 

 Warrior IFV's 

Scorpions and Artillery 

Swingfire launchers

Scorpions and some Ferrets

Quite a tidy little force of mechanised infantry really...click here for the auction, which ends on Sunday 9th December

More 1/300th Modern stuff

This time it's Taliban infantry and softskins (including some scarily good GHQ "Technical" models) and a Syrian army as well - all refurbished using some ArmyPainter tinted varnish from an original base colour of a spray coating of dark sand.