ACT GT Fashion On The Field

At the ACT GT this year I took some snaps of the armies on display. There were as usual a high level of painting on display with some players presenting very nicely turned out forces.

I have had these pictures for a while and have been slack in getting them up on the blog! Still, here they are in all their glory.

If you are interested in the event itself, you can find my report here.

DAK and Italian Tanks

Crusaders and Grants.

British Motor Rifles and Crusaders

Crusader Company ready for battle.

US post battle

Ken's DAK with Display Board

Robert's Brits

Yank Tank.

Every Armoured Car and a Tiger

All the Crusaders

Germans

US on display

Stephen's US forces.

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...

Battlefront V4 6 Pounder Box Review.

With the new V4 MW books out and with my new German force table ready, it is time to look at my old Motor company and give it a V4 refresh.

Box cover. Photo from Battlefront

Review:
First up is some 6 Pounders. A great opportunity to try out one of the new plastic boxsets. The box contains 4 yellow plastic frames, each with the parts for one 6 pound gun. As is now usual, there are some options here. The frame provides three different 6 pound gun options for various iterations. This is what we have come to expect from Battlefront's new strategy of product range tightening. I think this is a clear winner for BF, store and the gamer. Fewer blisters and boxes mean it is simpler to produce, stock and buy boxes that are needed wanted. 

6 Pound Gun frame. Photo from Battlefront

Gun components

These guns are simply lovely casts. Crisp detail in hard plastic. There was no real clean up required and assembly was straightforward. Unlike the old metal wheels which never seemed to have a deep enough hole to sit on the axle, these wheels fit well on the plastic axle. The gun is them popped into the hole behind the axle. Finally the gun shield in two pieces is fitted onto guiding nubs. Simple! The frames contained some ammunition crates but I didn't include these on the bases. I will likely reserve these for future tank stowage projects. Great to see them included though.

6 Pound Card - Photo from Battlefront

The box also contains the MW unit card. This is the usual high quality, glossy card.

Crew - Photo from Battlefront

Finally, there are 2 crew frames. These are of the new soft grey plastic variety. Looking at them, they are highly detailed with deep creases, especially in the uniforms. The faces have slightly less detail than the old metal miniatures. What was a problem was the flashing and mould lines on my models. I have always just cleaned them up with a hobby knife. However these models for whatever reason resisted my efforts. I did my best but wasn't happy with the result when I started painting.

Back of the box. Photo from Battlefront

The back of the box provides a very simply assembly plan and really covers everything needed for putting the model together. I have said it before and will say it again; it would be nice if there was a simple diagram showing the appropriate options to use for the period that the box covers. In this case, what each of the 3 guns are and which is appropriate.

Painting Progress Shot.

Painting:
I chose to mount my guns on the tops of paint bottles so they would be easier to paint. The crew were simply glued onto the new recessed bases. This worked really well.

Flash aside, the models were a joy to paint. My method involves a wash and the deep recesses and clean lines really suit my method. Details like tire treads, tow hooks and rivets on the gun are clearly visible and crisp. Likewise on the crew, small details like webbing, shell rounds and binoculars are well cast.

I went with my usual 3 crew. I find that predetermined recesses mean that 4 crew will leave the barrel of the gun protruding from the front of the base. I find this leads to damage in transport and storage and gets in the way on the game table. I would rather take a crew man off and push the gun back further in the stand.

I also chose to not glue the guns to the base. This will allow me to use the base and crew for 2 Pound guns if I want to use the army for EW.

My painting steps were:

1. A white spray undercoat.
2. The guns were base coated in Desert Yellow and washed with army painter strong tone.
3. I then highlighted the guns with a 80/20 ration of Desert Yellow and Iraqi Sand.
4. The wheels are black with an Iraqi Sand dry brush.
5. The Crew uniforms are Iraqi Sand, the Webbing is Stone Grey, the helmets are Desert Yellow, the gaiters are Khaki. 
6. After a wash, I then just simply highlighted the crew colours with the base colour again.
7. The basing is Desert Yellow, with a strong tone wash and a highlight of 80/20 Desert Yellow and Iraqi Sand.

 And after a spray varnish they are ready to hit the desert sands and battle Jerry.

I hope you enjoyed this review.