4CMBG Canadians For Team Yankee - Finished?

Not long before FlamesCon 2018 (9 hours before if I am being precise) I finished my Canadians Force for Team Yankee. I am really pleased with how the army turned out, especially since I experienced a few "speed-wobbles" during the painting where I thought that the Leopards were going to be way to dark and boring. Luckily a combination of a little remedial dry brushing and a decent matt varnish pulled them back.

To find out more about the vehicle numbers check out this excellent article by Dan McLean on the Team Yankee website.

Scroll down past the images to find out why I say "Finished?" in the title.

The HQ Platoon (minus 1 Leopard 1)

There are another 16 more Leopard 1 tanks, all looking like this... so many tanks!

The Company Commander with the "39" tank.

Some of the M113 APCs

Canadian flag on the front, vehicle numbers on the side in low-vis black and high-vis white on the rear

M150 TOW Platoon

And a look at some of their markings

Crowd favourite, the ADATS

Blowpipes, for a little extra AA support

Two units of Recce Lynx

And a closeup of their markings.

And some of the infantry (as used in Free Nations)

So why did I say "Finished?" A couple of reasons really. 

• Firstly, I found that even though I applied fresh gloss varnish under my decals, and then put two coats of DecalSol on them I still got quite a bit of silvering. I did a little experiment where I used a very sharp blade to pop a few small holes in the decals, as well as cutting them along panel lines, then reapplying DecalSol and this seems to have helped. 4 vehicles down, now I just need to do the other thirty-something.
• Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, I really enjoyed running this army at FlamesCon and so now I found myself wanting to add a bit more to the force, just to round it it. Stay tuned for more on this topic.

FlamesCon 2018 Report

Well another FlamesCon has come and gone... and this one has left me really buzzing!

The Turnout:
This year was (I think) the beginning of a resurgence for Flames Of War in New Zealand. Going back a few years we could comfortably count on 45-50 attendees to a FlamesCon, but as V3 became more convoluted and bogged down with contextual rules and clarifications the numbers began to drop.

The release of V4 certainly saw the event (last year) take another hit, much like other events around the world as there just wasn't enough Mid War lists to make the period interesting.

This year the organisers decided to run Late War, with (hopefully) an eye towards Mid War next year. It was really heartening to see so many players coming out of the woodwork to see what V4 was like. Best of all, everyone had good things to say about the new version. The numbers were still down on the days of old (with about 30 players across Flames Of War and Team Yankee) but I finished the weekend with a good feeling about the turnout for FlamesCon 2019.

The Gaming:

Team Yankee is taking its own good time to build up momentum in New Zealand (looking forward to Panzerschreck 2019!) as there are plenty of people with armies but not as many coming out to play. One positive of this was that with an 8 player event, I got to play everyone except the eventual winner, Andrew Duncan. It was quite nice to face off against almost everyone over the course of the event.

I can say without shadow of a doubt it was also one of the most enjoyable events from a gaming perspective. I really enjoyed all my games, felt like I had a chance of winning, felt like I had a chance of losing, and thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with my opponents. I cannot recall the last time where I finished an event and could honestly say that.

Two thumbs up!

The Army:

"I starting building my Canadians before they were cool" was my catchphrase for the weekend. Long before Free Nations was on a writers schedule, I was planning to build the army. Sadly, is an indictment on how long it takes me to finish an army these days that I was doing the final painting and varnishing at 11.30pm on the Friday before the tournament. My list was simple (click the image for a bigger version) and built around a lot of Leopard 1 tanks, some infantry and anti-tank assets. It was a blast to run!

The Leopard 1 tanks were awesome at killing things and burnt so brightly when they got lit up by anything (Carl Gustavs, Milans, 120mm AP rounds, as well as the odd HESH round from a Scorpions 76mm gun). The ADATS was fun, but tended to be targeted quickly once people realised how good it was! My star performers were probably the infantry, mainly because;

• I like how they turned out (paint job wise), 
• they are fairly useful on the table, 
• and they are great for taking (and holding) ground when the Leopards couldn't brave the enemy RPGs and Charlie G's!

The Final Word:

Great event, great opponents, middling result (5th, I think, out of 8), but with a Best Painted award! Believe me when I say that has been a topic of much good-natured abuse around the office.

Roll on FlamesCon 2019 I say!

If you want to check out my photo dumps from the event, including army shots click the links below.
Team Yankee Armies...
Flames Of War Armies...
Day One Gaming Shots...

Army Planning For FlamesCon 2018

FlamesCon is just around the corner, which is to say it is still a few months away but I need to nail down which army I am taking and then finish painting it. I have at least nailed the very first issue which was Flames Of War, or Team Yankee.

Right now, I have two competing options (plus a 3rd wild card) that I am debating

1. Canadians: lots of Leopard 1 tanks, supported by some infantry and anti-tank guided missile vehicles. This army is almost finished and I just need to paint some crews, apply decals, paint machine-guns and do final airbrush dusting and varnish.
2. Czechs (masquerading as East Germans): lots and lots of T-55AM2 tanks, with plenty of in Formation support so they won’t break, and plenty of high altitude support. This army is largely assembled but otherwise not yet started.
3. French: these are my wild card as the army is assembled, but otherwise not started. Given the fact they would be significantly easier to finish than the Czechs I am not sure why they are relegated to wildcard.....

The Canadians:

Simple list, as many Leopard 1 tanks as I can fit in (given the points level), some infantry, recce and plenty of M150 TOW and ADATS. The Leopards can rush the enemy and either flank them or just try to overwhelm them, whilst the missile carriers do much of the heavy lifting as the Leopards 105mm gun is a little underwhelming.

I am keen to finish the army, but I have built it as a 100+ point force so cutting it down to 75 points hurts my soul. 

Click the image for a bigger version

The Czechs (East Germans):

Best way to beat MSU spam is to play it and see how it works? Also, I am thinking of using part of this force next year at Panzerschreck where Casey and I are going to team up again so painting this up kills (or wounds) two birds with one paint brush.

Plus, it is a pile of cool models... and I am being cunning and using my Syrian infantry that I carefully based up on a fairly brown/grassy basing style to be my generic Warsaw Pact infantry teams. So, painting these means I get to progress two projects at the same time. I know the figures are not quite right but they are close enough.

Click the image for a bigger version

The French:

I've been chipping away at this project as a fun, spare time, when I want too project. Other than infantry and AMX-10RCs I have no idea what the force might look like other than having lots of wheels!

Where to from here????

Short answer, no idea! I will be getting the Canadians finished in the coming weeks (stay tuned for photos) now that I have some extra decals to complete them.

The Czechs have been progressing as a relaxing evening hobby project. It is too cold to paint out in the garage but assembling some tanks in front of the fire whilst watching some TV has been nice.

For now, lets assume the Czechs are option 1, whilst the Canadians are a fantastic back-up option when I inevitably run out of time.

Stay tuned.......

Mid War Plastics At FlamesCon 2016

Its pretty traditional these days for Battlefront to bring a few rapid prototypes of some of the new plastics we can expect to see over the coming months. This time was no exception and we had a few of the new Mid War plastics we can expect to see on shelves in early 2017.

The models are rapid prototypes based on the CAD data that will go to the toolmakers, assembled and then given a quick coat of primer. They are used to make sure that the model will look right and go together correctly. Much easier than staring at 2D printouts of components.

There were also a few new goodies for the East Germans in Team Yankee. These are traditional metal/resin models and are looking awesome!

 

Ahh, 2017 so many projects for me to start.... will I finish any of them?

FlamesCon 2016 is coming!

FlamesCon 2016 is happening tomorrow! Whoops, where did 2016 go? I seem to have blinked and we are at the end of the year.

So... I picked up a Soviet infantry army off a couple of friends and it looks lovely. I've been wanting to paint one up for about 15 years since I first saw a massive Mid War Soviet Militia Battalion. I even thought I'd get it painted next year, but when the opportunity came to grab one that was already painted I took it. I'll put some pictures up another time but it is pretty massive! Maybe not massive compared to some Soviet armies but pretty big compared with any other FOW army I've ever painted.

Needless to say I thought I'd take it along this weekend and try it out. The list I am taking is a little static - I'm easing myself into the complexities of running a big Soviet horde by taking a small Soviet horde with plenty of guns!

With a weird number of platoons (7) and a lot of expensive toys it is probably not a traditional Soviet list but I've also wanted to try a Soviet Gun Line... I expect to come out in a body bag in most games but lets be honest as long as plenty of enemies die Stalin will be happy!

My plan is to leave each objective defended by some anti-tank guns and artillery, whilst the infantry hold the centre and one flank leaving me with some options when it comes to counter-attacking. Time will tell if it was a good plan or not!

Good luck to everyone else heading to FlamesCon and I'll no doubt have some pictures from the weekend up sooner or later!

2015 Gaming Calendar

With January rapidly coming to a close I thought it was worth taking a closer look at the Wargaming Calendar for 2015 and coming up with a bit of a plan. Also I need to clear the plan with the Master Scheduler (in other words, my wife) so that I don’t get into hot water.

Battlecry

Battlecry - Tigers in the mud

Traditionally one of my favourite events of the year as in the past it was hosted in a big gymnasium and it was filled with people playing a wide variety of wargames, as well as board games and card games. It also had the biggest turn out of retailers of any of the events I would normally go to. This resulted in some good games along with a few ways to be parted from my money. This year they are moving to a new (smaller) venue and dividing the event up over a couple of weekends. Hopefully it will still retain the flavour of previous years and luckily I only have a few weeks to wait to find out!

As for the gaming I am taking a slightly unconventional approach (at least by my standards) and dividing the weekend up in to two events – one day of X-Wing and one day or Hordes (first chance to roll out some Trolls).

Ides of March

Yeah, this is the big one! 40-50 Warmahordes players and a chance to get in a bunch of tough games (that I will of course loose). Ideally I will be taking the Trolls along for their second outing but IOM does have a fully painted requirement (which I am really pleased about) so I might have to put down a backup list with eBaldur and/or Bradigus Thorle and lots of constructs. Super excited about this event

Ides Of March - Sweet trophies!

To go to the NZ Nationals or to not go… that is the question?

This year the New Zealand Nationals will be in Auckland (yay!) but I am really struggling to find the time and enthusiasm put a 3 day weekend into gaming these days. Ten years ago I would have gone in a heartbeat but with more responsibilities comes more hard decisions… not going will definitely put a dent in my efforts to take out the Romanian spot in the NZ Flames Of War Rankings though! I might end up just having to put in a days friendly gaming somewhere instead?

NiCon

The North Island Convention is on another long weekend (just like the Nationals) but in this case it is in Thames (which is a short-ish drive away from the in-laws house) which might make it a bit easier to get away for a couple of days. Whilst it is too far away for concrete plans, Flames Of War is definitely on the cards.

Panzerschreck

Panzerschreck - Road Trippin'

Panzerschreck is the ancestral home of Flames Of War tournament gaming and traditionally takes the form of a doubles Late War event. 

Definitely keen on this as we normally hire a big mini-van for a nice team building 9 hour drive! I’ve been chatting to Phil about pairing up for a bit of low stress gaming. 

Assuming I get my act together I’ll either be taking an Atlantik Wall Puma company or Romanian StuGs so that could be quite a lot of fun.

Lords of Ruin - More sweet trophies!

Lords of Ruin

I am working on the assumption that this event is happening again this year as it was an absolute blast last year. Sean Lincoln organised a fantastic event in a local pub (down in Wellington). This is my drop dead target for having the fully painted Trolls in action!

Choptober

Looking forward to this one day W/H event here in Auckland. All the usual suspects will be there, and it will be a low stress event!


FlamesCon

We still need to get out ducks in a row with FlamesCon but my assumption is that it is happening… so much for insider knowledge eh! Either way, Romanians all the way baby! Currently thinking that it would be fun to play Early and Mid War, just not confident that I can get an EW Romanian army painted for it…

Well, there we have it, but 2015 event plan… throw in a few 1 day X-Wing events that pop up over the course of the year and it is feeling pretty solid to me.