Tournament Report - Cancon 2018 - FOW

Cancon is hands down the largest Wargaming event on the Aussie Calendar. This year was the 40th Cancon and like those before it was not to be missed. Cancon, being a national event is the one weekend that draws players from all over Australia and occasionally overseas. Aside from the numerous competitions and campaigns, there are lots of participation games, a large board game area, traders, a 2nd hand stall, roleplay games and even Cosplayers. Something for everyone.

This year there were no less than 6 different FOW and TY events. In the past few years I had played during the day and night flames but this year I setting on Mid War v4. The total list of events were:

Mid War V4
Early War Campaign
Team Yankee
Team Yankee Campaign mm)
Night Flames Arab Israeli
Night Flames Late War`

I suspect the total FOW and TY numbers were down slightly on past years . We had a very healthy 22 players for MW. Given the newness of the rules and the fact that there are only 3 books out, I think this is pretty good.

Caunter Corner

Players could select 80 points of troops with up to 10 points of cards. Only the 80 points of troops counted towards reserve calculation.

I ran my newly painted Crusader company with some 17/25 pounders, Carriers, Infantry, Bofors and Hurricanes. Over the 8 games I played a variety of different forces - German Tanks,  German Infantry, German Armoured Cars, British Crusaders, British Grants and a US Tank force. The top four players were running British Crusaders, German Armoured Cars, German Infantry and British Grants. Every British army I saw seemed to have Scout Tank and this is still a problem. I think that is a pretty good spread and highlights that MW V4 is otherwise largely balanced.

Interestingly, I played against 2 different German lists with Tigers. Even at these low points, they can be a threat. I don't think they can work with DAK tanks but certainly can with infantry or mechanised Companies.

The MW tournament was well run in the capable hands of Trick and Ben. I didn't see any major issues or heated arguments. The hottest anyone got was the warm pavilion where the air conditioning struggled with 30 plus degree temperatures and too many sweaty gamers.

Darren's Bunkerflak

EW Eastern Front Campaign table

I didn't have a lot of time to look at the other FOW and TY events but I had time to snap a few pics. These events also seemed well attended and the players having a good time.

Nappy game on Monday

Trick doing TO stuff

Some of the lovely desert terrain.

Ben not doing TO stuff

It was this long...

100 Hasty Posts

Today I hastily post up my 100th blog post and look back at the 99 that proceeded it.

Nearly 8 months ago I shared my ambition of blogging about my my hobby; namely painting, modelling and gaming. I have written lots of reviews of figures, terrain and books. I have reported back on tournaments and events I have attended. I have even provided my thoughts on releases and the new V4 rules. Most importantly for me, I am still here, still painting, still playing and still blogging.

Here are some highlights:

My first review. Some unassuming German HMGs:

My first report from a tournament. This one was Team Yankee at Moab.

A post about the small world of wargaming.

My first list building post. The mighty Romanians from V3.

The first of my painting tips from an average painter series.

My thoughts on V4

And...

My first treasures from the top drawer post

I hope you have enjoyed the first 100, I did.

Painting: Battlefront Roland Flak Batterie (TGBX08)

Today I test fire the Rolands for my new West Germans.

A while back I un-boxed and reviewed the Battlefront Roland box set. I also reviewed the history of these self propelled West German flak vehicles. You can find that article here.

After some real world delays, I have finally managed to get these 2 Rolands painted up.

I followed my now established paint scheme. For anyone new to this army project, you can find the refined formula here in the Luch article. Like the Gepards, I used the Soviet Green spray as a base coat. 

These vehicles haven't been varnished yet so you might see some gloss varnish around the decals. This will disappear once varnished.

I have another pair of these to paint up which will give me a unit of 4.

I hope you enjoyed my review and painting articles for these lovely models. 

A sticky situation

Every Triage nurse has a great glue-related emergency story. Hopefully at least some of the tips below will prevent you from being on the next Emergency Department conference presentation.

If you have any great embarrassing stories, please make sure you share them in comments!

Inline with my series of painting tips from an average painter, I wanted to share some of the FOW/TY hobby related glue tips I have picked up over the years. If you can add any, please make sure you do!


1. Use the right glue for the right job. Don't be tempted to just use any glue for any job. It may not work.

2. No matter the glue, keep the stopper tight. Glue is expensive and always seems to run out when you need it most. Look after it and it will last longer.

3. PVA glue is great for adding flock, rocks and other basing materials to bases. I find I don't ever have a situation where I need to water it down. It flows white but dries clear. Remember this is actually wood glue so perfect for scratch building anything made from wood or card such as buildings, bridges or fences.

4. Superglue is a great all rounder. It will glue just about anything. My advise is to buy a quality brand and use it sparingly. The cheaper brands tend to end up with a white mess around the glue as it dries. The same can occur if you use too much. Be careful to keep if off your hands, eyes and genitals. Remember the Emergency department conference power point.

5. Plastic glue is for... Well plastic. This is a tip I picked up recently. I have always used super glue for plastic but plastic glue seems to work better. I am no chemist but I understand there is a sort of melting that occurs as part of the bond. Whatever happens, the stuff glues plastic well. You will need superglue for gluing plastic to metal or resin (i.e the current iteration of flames resin vehicles).

6. Epoxy - for when you have to glue everything in the room, accept no substitutes. This is the business when it comes to the strongest bond. Beware, it smells bad. You need to equally mix two parts and apply quickly but once done, that bond wont be undone quickly. I only really use it for those hard to stick situations and infantry figures that break at the ankle.

7. Always glue in a well ventilated place. Yes some of this stuff is toxic. Read instructions and follow them.

8. There is Super glue and there us Super glue. There are a few varieties now ranging from rapid set, shock proof, slow set and a gel. I tend to just use the standard product and the gel. The gel is thicker and dries slower. I find this is great for when you want to keep the cap off for a while and glue several items (for example a platoon of tanks). The normal stuff is best for a quick glue and set. 

9. If you want to save some money, shop at hardware/iron monger stores rather than hobby shops. These things were not invented for hobbyist and can be purchased more cheaply and in bulk in the real world. 

10. I am trying not to use brand names and some of these glues may be called different things in different states. If you check out the pictures you will soon work out what I am referring to.

I hope this article has been useful. Remember, share those embarrassing stories.

Aussie v4 launch and up-coming events.

Today's we will look at some of the upcoming events in Australia including the big one - The FOW v4 launch

By now, every FOW gamer and their long suffering significant others are fully aware that Battlefront are launching v4 on the 11th and 12 March 2017. Details of the global launch is available on the FOW website. If you bring in an old v3 book, you will receive a new v4 rule book for EW and LW and a special rules and warriors update for EW and LW. All of this is FREE. The new MW book and box sets are also being released.

Sadly I am not aware of any Aussie stores holding a launch event as is happening in the UK and the USA. However contact your local store to be sure they are getting copies in.

In the meantime, here are some of the events coming up

Sabre - 11th and 12th March - Mega Games Penrith.

Sabre is a long standing Sydney event hosted by the Panzer Angriff club. This is a 1625 late war open event. Players may bring an allied and an axis army to ensure a red/blue matchup.

Details here.

Firestorm Overlord - 25th and 26th March - Hall of Heroes, Penrith.

A campaign event at the Hall of Heroes. Ken is looking to finalise numbers so register soon! Website here

Briscon - 29th and 30th April - Brisbane

A 100 point TY event in Brisbane. Details on the Briscon site.

Painting: Battlefront Fliegerfaust Grupp (TGR708)

Earlier in the week, I reviewed the Battlefront Fliegerfaust Grupp. You can find that review on this link. I have just finished painting up the blister. Given the short time it took to paint up the Panzer Grenadier Platoon, I was expecting a pretty quick turn around time on this blister.

However the reality was something else. Just the six stands contain 36 figures. The six bases are each large and therefore require extra basing. However I wont need to paint another pack so not a massive problem.

Overall, I think they turned out pretty well. Given the amount of open space on the bases, this pack would have provided a great opportunity to add some more details like walls or fences.

Roll the pictures....