Painting Tips 3

Here is another installment of good tips from an average painter. This time I concentrate on Flames of War specific tips.

You can see my earlier painting tips posts by clicking on links below:

Painting Tips 1
Painting Tips 2

Here are the tips I have picked up that are most useful to assembling, modelling and painting Flames of War Models.

1. Temporarily attach tanks to a "hold". I use lids from soft drink bottles, others use old paint pots. What ever you use, blu tacing tanks and vehicles to a "hold" will allow you to pick it up, paint it without your hands actually touching the model. I apply these straight after clean up. I then leave them attached from undercoat to varnish.
2. Score bases before gluing figures. The Battlefront bases are distinctive and look good on the table. However they are relatively smooth. I use my scalpel to scratch lines in the surface of the base in a diagonal direction. This provides something for the glue to hold onto and helps the glue to adhere the figures to the bases better.
3. Paint your bases. Nothing looks worse on the table than a gray edge on the base that isn't painted. Whether you are using the old gray or the new brown bases, painting the edges will instantly improve the look of the base you spent so much time painting.
4. Read up on decals. I could and might write up a post on this. Don't just apply decals to tanks and then spray varnish the model. The decal will "silver" and look dreadful. Google applying decals. There are articles and you tube videos out there to help you make decals look awesome.
5. Try to create a vignette with every base. You want the figures to follow a theme. For example if you have an NCO gesturing and running, then try to place other figures on the move or a LMG providing covering fire. 
6. After gluing figures to a base, use a basing material to hide the figures bases. This is less of a problem with the new brown bases but was and is a big problem for gray bases. I use filler to build up the base to the level of the figures. Others use ballast or textured basing material. Either way, you can hide the bases with one of these options.
7. Magnets, magnets, magnets. These are not just for keeping turrets on. They can allow you to have a vehicle with different barrels or gun crews with different guns. This is only limited by your imagination and the size and variety of magnets you have.
8. To base before or after you paint. This is subject to differing opinions. I personally base before painting but this is a compromise. There are times when this means I cannot get to every detail. However it means I can finish figures quickly and have a natural "hold" - the base. Whether you base or not, stick the figures down to something to prevent the oils in your skin touching the figures.
9. Tanks Commanders - The best way to distinguish the command tank is to just have the platoon command vehicle with the hatch unbuttoned. Whilst it may be cooler to have all the tanks painted this way, it makes identification during gaming simple.
10. Stowage. Stowage on tanks is a great way to improve the look of your vehicles. Look at some pics of WW2 tanks and crews had all sorts of things on the back and sides of their tanks. BF make packs of these and include them on their new plastic frames. However you can use all sorts of things like camo neting, logs to make your tanks unique. This is especially good for mono-colour vehicles like US and Soviet, green tanks.

I hope you enjoyed this post and it has inspired you to paint some of your lead pile.

Review and Unboxing - Battlefront Mosque Walls (BB179)

A little while back I reviewed the Battlefront Battlefield in a Box Mosque here. The Mosque was pretty impressive alone but Battlefront have also released a box of walls to complete the set. Here is my review of the walls. At the end I also have pictures of the 2 sets together.

Review:
The box is inline with the high standard you can come to expect from Battlefront Battlefield in a box. You can see the contents on the back and a picture of the components on the cover with appropriate supporting models. My box was $32 Australian dollars. Although designed for the Arab Israeli period, it will work for WW2.

The box

Taking the plastic off and opening the box, the contents seem really well packed and secure in the foam insert. There are 4 walls, each 3.5cm high. There is also 2 gates and a Minaret. The Minaret is a match for the one supplied in the Mosque set.

The walls and Minaret in their foam protection.

The Battlefront packaging for the Battlefield in a box has come a long way. I purchased the old eastern front buildings when they were released and they came in a cardboard box without bubble wrap. Result - chipped resin. I am pleased to say that this packaging is light years ahead of the old eastern front buildings.

Contents of the box arrayed.

All of my components made it to me unscathed. Best of all the packaging looks like it will be ideal to carry and store my set. This should keep it in good condition until someone drops it at a tournament!   :)

Here are the contents assembled more coherently.

The set as seen in the picture above is probably not much use without another largish model in the middle. The walls are high (taller than a 15mm figure) and seem way to grand for anything other than a centerpiece (like the Mosque). Not a problem as such but it is not really a stand alone terrain piece.

That said, this is top notch terrain. As always with Battlefield in a box, it is fully assembled, fully painted and ready for the table. The models are nicely painted and best of all, blend in with the rest of Battlefronts desert buildings. I particularly like the battle scars in evidence on the walls. A small touch but one that really adds some realism to the terrain and makes is look like it belongs on the battlefield.

Here are some closeups of the components:

One of the gate pieces between 2 walls.

A Minaret

And, there is no point having the 2 boxes without some pictures of them together. Here is the Mosque and the Mosque Walls together.

The Mosque in all it's glory.

A close up of the front of the Mosque behind the walls.

I think combining the sets really brings the model to life. I think this will look great on my table. I am one more step closer to that MW desert table. C'mon Battlefront, where is version 4!?

I hope you enjoyed this post. I have been travelling this week and haven't had any real hobby time to paint, model or blog. However, the Hasty Attack blog has passed 5000 hits while I wasn't watching. It seems there are some people reading it. Please feel free to leave comments.

Flames of War at Cancon

Cancon has always been the highlight of my gaming year. It is a chance to get away, catch up with mates, have a few beers and play some games. Cancon is only just around the corner and I know many - including me - are planning their Cancon weekend.

Crowd Shot from Cancon, Photo from Cgs.asn.au

Cancon is also the largest gaming convention in Australia and as such has the most on offer for the gamer. From dinosaurs to gladiators to Star Wars X Wing there is a tournament or demonstration game for everyone

There are also a ton of traders offering all sorts of goods to spend your hobby dollar on.

If you haven't been to Cancon, I can recommend it as a great event.

But let's talk about Flames of war. This year there is:

Flames of war nationals - Early war 1550
Flames of war nationals - Late war 1625
Flames of war nationals - Team Yankee 100

Night Flames nationals - Late war 1000
Night Flames nationals - Arab Israeli 1000

War in the desert - Campaign event 

I understand there are less spaces available than there were last year, so if you intend to play, you should consider registering at the CGS website Here. Once the total cancon entries hits the venue limit, entries will close.

I hope to have more posts before, during and after Cancon. See you there!

Review: Battlefront TAC 47mm Schneider (RO510)

Schneider 47mm gun on display at National Military Museum in Bucharest. Photo from https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tun_antitanc_Schneider_calibru_47_mm_model_1936

History:
The Schneider 47mm gun was a French designed gun. Originally a batch of 160 were sold to Romania. The Romanians then built more under license in the Concordia factory in Ploesti. The guns were manufactured and used right through the war.

The anti-tank gun was light weight (628kgs) and therefore highly mobile. The gun shield was small but the wheels could be shifted to increase the effective size and coverage of the shield. The gun was fitted with a muzzle break and could fire a 2.3kg round.

Review:
The Battlefront blister (RO510) like normal contains everything you need for a platoon. In this case, 3 47mm Schneider guns and a command stand. The guns themselves are made up of the trail, the gun and the gun shield. Each gun comes with 4 crew. I am actually painting up 2 blisters worth and accidentally left 6 guns instead of 3 in the picture. Here is the blister contents:

RO510 contents. Ignore half the gun barrels.

The gun components had lots of flash and mould lines to clean up, even more than normal. However all components were well cast and free of damage. Being only 3 simple pieces they went together well. The crew were likewise free of damage and minimal cleanup saw these ready to go.

A blury photo of the assembled gun

I have chosen to only use 3 crew per gun. I have also decided not to glue the guns down on the base. This will allow me to use the same crew and bases for pak38s as a LW option. I will just swap them out as required.

As I mentioned above, the gun shield on the Schneider 47mm gun was small. It was augmented by shifting the wheels to increase the size of the shield. This is nice modelling aspect that Battlefront have chosen to model. It would have been awesome to also have them with the wheels attached for more variety. Still the models look great as it is.

Photos:
Here are the photos. I will post up some more photos when these are painted. I hope you enjoyed the review.

The first gun and crew assembled.

And then there were three.

The full platoon with command stand.

Review and unboxing: Battlefront Mosque (BB178)

The MW desert reboot is coming!!

If you read my recent why we fight podcast review, you will know that version 4 is coming. Also coming is the relaunch of the mid war period starting in the desert. Both of these things have got me very excited.

My first army was a US MW army and the desert and MW are still my favorite period. When I started playing flames or war, it was simpler to simply collect a European table of terrain. Now, with v4 and the desert reboot, now is the time to start putting together my desert table. I have collected a few items and I will be picking up some more in coming months. I really hope that Battlefront release some new pieces with their desert releases. Fingers crossed!

Review and Un-boxing:
One of the pieces I want my table to feature is the Mosque that Battlefront recently released for the Arab Israeli period. It will work well for a WW2 desert table too. It is a fairly big piece so, a good piece to start with.

Here are my pictures and comments as I unbox the Mosque.

The box.

Inside is a foam-wrapped package.

Individually wrapped pieces

Mosque components.

The pack also contains a Minaret

Building pieces and Minaret

And the complete Mosque and Minaret ready for the table.

The Mosque is large enough to house 4 medium bases. There is also some room on top around the dome for some small bases.

This is my first piece of Battlefield in a base desert terrain and it is a beauty. The model is made from solid resin. Mine was very well packed as you can see above and arrived to me with zero damage. Like all Battlefield in a box pieces, it is fully painted, fully assembled and table ready. Including taking photos, I had mine out of the box and table ready in 5 minutes.

The dome on the building and the Minaret are a bold gold/brass colour and really stand out from the white walls. It will also stand out on a desert board too. The roof is cast with a small crate that serves as a hold so it can be easily removed and figures placed in side. Inside, there is a nicely detailed patterned floor that really adds another level to the building.

The only minor quibble I have is the crescent for the dome. It is quite a long piece and I expect it will break first. However the dome looks perfectly good without it so no big deal. Overall, I give this box 9 out of 10.

The model is currently on sale on the Flames Of War site for $37.50 USD. Here is the link. Overall, I think this is excellent value, especially as it is on sale. I think mine was $60 AU and I consider this a pretty good deal.

Review: Battlefront Romanian Infantry Platoon (RO702)

History:
The Romanian Infantry like much of the Romanian army were issued with Czech equipment. The rifle used was the ZB 1924. It fired a standard 7.92mm round. Each section was also equipped with a ZB 1930 Machine Gun.

Review:
This blister is the usual offering from Battlefront. It containers everything you need for a Romanian Infantry platoon for a Batalian Puscasi. That is 4 squads each of 2 stands of 5 figures and a command stand. Included are 8 medium and 1 small base. The pack contains an officer, a tank hunter, 5 NCOs, 4 MGs, 32 rifles. The blister was complete when I opened it up.

The BF blister.

As I pulled out the figures and started to sort them into poses as I always do, I found there was a guy with a missing arm. I put him aside thinking he was a miss-cast. I then continued to go through the pile until I found 3 more. Were they all miss cast? I then noticed 4 arms, each holding a rifle. They are multi-part figures! I have been playing FOW and painting BF figures for years and I have only come across this once before - and never with infantry models. The good news is that with 30 seconds work, they are easy to glue into a reasonably useful pose. I just cannot work out why. Perhaps the figure couldn't be cast as one piece?

The two piece cast. Extreme close ups equal no place to hide from painting mistakes!

Aside from the one-armed men, the pack was full of nicely cast models with very little flash. What I really liked is that each base is designed for 5 models, I chose to use just 4, so I have 8 figures left. I pulled out a spare base so I can have an EW compliant 10 stand platoon.

Painting:
Earlier this month, I painted up a small batch of these same troops. The post is here. I used the same painting scheme.

Here are the photos. I hope you enjoy my first full infantry platoon. Please feel free to leave comments. Especially if you can shed some light on the one armed bandits!

The full platoon

Close up of an NCO leading his squad.

Platoon defending a wall.

Forward men!

Close up of stand. Notice the bandit on the right of the base!

Platoon Commander.

Why We Fight 7 - Summary of information and review

After listening to the excellent “Why we fight, episode 7: Tanks, Tracks, Bang, Yeah with Peter Simunovich” podcast from the WWPD guys (http://www.wwpd.ne/2016/10/why-we-fight-ep-7-tanks-tracks-bang.html?m=1). I thought I would try and summarise and give some of my thoughts.

First off, there was a ton of information shared in a very short period of time. Hopefully I do it justice. I strongly recommend downloading the WWPD podcast and listening to it yourself. Both the Why we fight and News from the Front podcasts are terrific and have always been great at sharing new information often via interviews with key stakeholders at BF.

So, here are the points I picked up.

1.      Battlefront (BF) are looking to bring out a new Team Yankee (TY) style hardcover book for Vietnam and Fate of a Nation. I.E a new rule set based on the TY ruleset.

2.      Peter is personally keen on a Bush War/Angola list. We might see this in the future.

3.      BF are committed to finishing off Berlin. We should expect a compilation in March 2017.

4.      The big news – There will be a version 4 of the rules. This will be in two ways. Firstly there will be new rule book for EW and LW. This will allow all of the current EW and LW books to be used with the current points values, including the new Berlin compilation that is about to come out. 95% of these books will be compliant with the new V4 rules

5.      For MW, there will not only be a new rule book but it will be accompanied by new dessert lists. Initially these will be for Brits and DAK. Other dessert forces and then Eastern Front lists to follow. These will be a new 100 point style system. There will be cards.

I think this will be great. MW is my favourite period and is currently a bit stale. It seems the perfect place to start again for BF. I cannot wait to dive into this period again with new rules and lists.

6.      The new V4 rules will be inspired by TY. However Peter went out of his way to say they will not be the same. To paraphrase him, WW2 is a much richer historical period than the Cold War, with more forces and troops and vehicles. The rules will need to match.

7.      There will be a new V4 rulebook. How this will work exactly was not detailed. This is awesome news. I got a free V3 rulebook when that book came out and that really kept me excited about the new rules. Hopefully this will do the same for V4.

8.      The rules will be more streamlined and won’t cover every possible point like the current 300 odd page V3. Instead there will be a new Letters from the Front type document with a cooler name that will serve as a living document to accompany the rules. I see this aimed more at the tournament gamer than the Friday night garage gamer.

9.      The new rules will retain the current morale and motivation settings. Peter used the example that Fearless Veteran will remain. This to me is good news. This is one of the charming aspects of FOW and something that isn’t really in TY.

10.   Even though cards were announced, Peter did say that players don’t need to use them. The current TY doesn’t NEED the cards. This might be how older gamers with big collections can get by without the cards.

11.   BF are still working on how to distribute cards. Selling packs was raised as an option. However it sounds like nothing is yet set in stone. BF is looking for feedback on this.

12.   Forces will remain. Peter did say there is a big effort involved in updating forces but he sees it as critical to the game. I for one love forces and easy army before it and would struggle without this excellent tool. If you haven’t tried it, it can be found at forces.flamesofwar.com

13.   BF are trying to be cautious with the new rules. In summary it seems there are still discussions and heated agreements over aspects of the rules in the playtest group. Peter was careful to point out that this game is precious to BF and they are not treating the new version and the potential fallout lightly. They are calling for reasoned feedback as his team are working very hard on the release and contents. I am personally pleased to hear this. Like many, I have invested lots of money and time in this game and want to hear that it is being cared for and hopefully will be just as good or better in version 4.

14.   The distribution timing and exact method is still being nutted out by Battlefront. However it seems likely that the new V4 and MW releases will be timed together.

15.   One of the most interesting points of the conversation was around why. Peter said that BF need to change, FOW is slowly reducing in popularity. A 300 page rule book is a barrier to entry and that modern games sellers need to change to be more acceptable in the modern, internet-based marked. This will attract new players and keep the game viable.

I can see this everywhere. I personally think this is the right thing for BF to do. Lead the market with innovation. The alternative is a slow and painful decline.

16.   There will be new plastics for MW. YES!!!

17.   We should look out for a new Aussie TY list. YES again!!

18.   Peter personally committed to return to answer questions at a later date. He asked for feedback via WWPD. There is a thread on the excellent WWPD forum at http://forum.wwpd.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=20227

We that’s it. In summary I am excited not only about the product but with the care and attention that V4 is being shown. I look forward to the release.

I hope you enjoyed my summary and commentary. Please feel free to leave comments.

Tournament Coverage: Waffenbruder 2016 - Day 2

For day one coverage, please click here

Thanks to the Hasty Attack corespondent, here are some pics of day 2.

I understand David and Conrad won. Well done to them.

Deployment

Street Barricades

Defense set

Tankovy and the railway to no where

Tankovy on the attack

Painting: Romanian HQ (RO701).

No army is complete without a HQ and here is mine.

This will only be a short post as my blister (RO701) was missing a figure. I have written to Battlefront and will complete the review once the missing figure arrives.

In the meantime, here are my 1IC and 2IC. Whilst not a unit, I am one step closer to having the army on the table. As with the infantry, these bases need another colour of tufts when I can get my hands on a pack.

Here are some pictures. If you like what you see, please leave a comment or follow my blog.

They are over there I tell you.

Commanders safe in the HQ building.

2IC

1IC

Leading from the.... rear.

List Building: Romanian Vanatori Motorizata (Early War).

You will have seen some painting and review posts for my Romanian force. Even though I have written a few lists, I want to sit down and write the one list to rule them all. Well, a list to at least paint up and play a few games with. This list is from the new Barbarossa digital lists.

List Rules:

So, a word on the Romanians. To start, they are variable morale. So, you need to roll off on a table each game to see what the rating of each unit is. This means that you might have a range of different ratings in the same army. There are 2 tables – regular and elite. Vanatori Motorizata is an Elite list and therefore has fewer bad options on their table. Essentially, there is 3 chance in 6 of being Confident Trained, 2 in 6 chance of being Fearless Trained and 1 in 6 chance of being Confident Veteran.

Next, Romanians have a French Doctrine. The Romanians are still using outdated trench warfare tactics at this point and therefore can dig in on a 3+ (this is important as there is a 5/6 chance or being trained who normally dig in on a 4+. Being an infantry list, digging in is important. Infantry and gun teams who are dug in are also allowed to shoot over man packed and light guns in defensive fire.

The Romanians get a Defend the Homeland rule that allows them to reroll motivation to counter attack in assaults. This is the same as British Bulldog.

List

So, onto the list. We generally play 1550 in Sydney so I will shoot for that.

HQ

I will take the 1ic and 2ic with a truck for 30 points.

I have an option to take some 60mm mortars. I am not sure I will have the points for that so I will hold off for the moment.

Combat Platoons.

There are 2 compulsory Vanatori Motorizata Platoons. These are the foundation on which the list will be built. I will take them at full strength. That is 2 x 10 stand rifle platoons with trucks. 2 x 135 points = 270 points. With the HQ, we are up to 300. 1250 to go.

Divisional Support.

OK, I have skipped Weapons Platoons and skipped straight to the dessert menu, AKA the Divisional Support Platoons. This is where all the tasty treats are.

So, the list will need to some recce. Cavalry tanks seem the logical option. They are small, so easy to conceal. They are cheap so easy to fit in a list. Finally they are pointed for purpose – that is you get just what you need, recce that moves 12 inches, armour 0-0-1 with just a MG. No wide tracks, main guns or fancy armour. 70 points

I have some R-2 tanks (35ts) on my paint bench and I am reading a book on this beautifully boxy beast at the moment. So, let’s add a unit of 3. This will be my unit of tanks. They are reasonable tanks in EW with decent armour (FA 2), good movement (standard), a reasonable gun (RFO 2 and AT 6) and has 2 MGs and protected ammo. 195 points.

I really want some more vehicles and the only option left are a platoon of captured BA10s or Tatra vz 30. I am going for BA10s. Please see my blog post for my thoughts on Battlefronts models. These are a handy unit as they are a second unit of recce, have a good AT7 gun and two MGs each. 155 points.

So, I have spent 420 on vehicles. Add that to the 300 I spent earlier, I am up to 720 or just under half way.

Artillery is next. I really want a solid template to drop on the hatches of any heavy tanks I encounter. Heavy artillery is expensive in EW, so I go for the cheap and cheerful Skoda M14 100mm guns. I will add an observer and some trucks for 235 points.

Next is some AT. I need something to meet the tank swarms that EW often produces. This is where the Romanians excel. Let’s take 4 TAC Schneider 47mm guns. These are ROF 3 and AT 8 so can stop most tank units dead. 225 points.

After gorging on dessert, I have spent 1180, let’s go back to some weapons platoons.

Weapons Platoons

Even though my infantry platoons are 10 stands, they will not be able to stop assaults from large infantry units. So, let’s buy a machine gun platoon. This gives me 2 HMGs to attach out for 55 points.

I can take a second unit of the excellent TAC 47mm guns. Let’s add 4 more of these puppies for another 225 points.

I am now at 9 platoons or 8 if I attach out the HMGs and have spent 1480 points.

I am missing a very important ingredient – smoke. Sadly my arty doesn’t have smoke rounds and the cheap HQ mortars don’t either. So, let’s add a mortar platoon of four 81mm mortars for 80 points. This will give me both a direct fire smoke and an indirect template of smoke. Finally, mortars are great for digging out gun teams on the attack and for bombarding infantry in the open on the defense.

I am now at 1555. Let’s take the trucks off the artillery platoon for -5 and that’s it, 1550. I am now at 10 platoons or 9 if the HMGs combat attach.

Hopefully you have found this useful. Please leave me a comment on what you think of the list.

Romanian Infantry painted

After painting some vehicles for my new Romanian, I decided to mix things up and paint some infantry. As well as some blisters, I also had some odd infantry and command stands that I picked up from a friend a while back. They are all Battlefront figures. Being a relatively small batch, it seems ideal to paint these first as trial figures.

I used the painting guide from the Mid War companion Eastern Front. I generally followed the guide but made some small tweaks.

Being a new army, I also had the opportunity to change my basing. I have never used tufts before so I decided to give these a try. I used some army painter tufts I picked up recently. I have included some static grass too. I have changed my base highlight colour to flat earth and I think it looks more natural than my previous colours. I think it would work better if I had 2 different coloured tufts so I will add these to the next batch.

Anyway, here are the photos. I hope you enjoy. Please feel free to comment with suggestions for the new army and/or to follow my blog.