Old School Buildings

I love this post over at Lead Gardens about "Old School" building construction!
http://littlejohnslead.blogspot.com/2011/01/classic-wargames-building-tutorial.html

First H&R Germans Painted

Quickly based and threw some paint on the Heroics and Ros German Infantry

 

The macro focus on my phone kept focusing on the back row, so I might need to switch back to the real camera.

I'm hoping to base some more this week if time allows.

Heroics and Ros WW2 Germans

I ordered some Heroics and Ros World War 2 Germans as opponents for my British Paratroops.  H&R are quite affordable like the Irregular figures I currently use, but they come in strips that enable them to be based individually.
I picked up a range of items to make up a force of Grenadiers to defend against my Irregular Paras, and here they are:
German Infantry:

Heavy Weapons:

So how do they compare to the Irregular Paras?

Interestingly the two manufacturers are similar in height, but they have different "bulk".  They're obviously not going to work on the same base as each other, but I think I can still get away with using them.
I also picked up some vehicles to support the grenadiers:

Irregular Vietnam Village

The other part of my Christmas buy turned up at the start of the week - some Heroics and Ros WW2 Germans.  More on them in a coming post...
Here are some pics I took of the Irregular Minis 6mm Vietnamese Village.  It wasn't until I got it all out of the bag that I realised how much there was!
Here it is with all the various bits:
 
And here I have close-ups of all of the constituent parts.  I particularly like the little wagon.  All pictures (including the one above) should zoom when clicked.

Irregular 6mm US Firebase

Okay folks, as promised here are some shots of the US Firebase I just picked up.
All of the bits you get:

As you can see, you get 2 sandbagged buildings, 2 tents, 2 piles of barrels, 6 sandbag walls, 4 gun emplacements and 6 defensive mounds with sharpened pickets.  Plus a flag.

Below is a quick attempt at a comparison shot using some of the 6mm Brit Para's I've been working, along with one of the ACAV's that I received in the same order.

Note that the thick base on the Para's causes the ACAV too look a little small (and the hut to be too short).  I think that once everything is at the same height it will look great.
For those of you who want to look at the components a little more closely, I've taken some more picks and put them in the Picasa album : http://picasaweb.google.com/scannablegoose/6mmTerrain#

More Irregular 6mm

One of my packages just arrived today.  I ordered a number of items direct from Irregular in the UK.
First off, I should say that it has been quite pleasant dealing with Ian, and I will defintely be ordering more in the future (assuming the AU$ stays high!).

The majority of the purchase was 6mm terrain:

• A Zulu Kraal for my Cold War Africa conflicts,
• A Vietnamese Village and US Firebase for my 6mm Vietnam plans

These are quite bulky, so I'll take some snaps of them when I get home. 
I also picked up a couple of miscellaneous items for the above conflicts, and it only took a minute or so to take a quick snap with my phone camera:

• Toyota pick-ups with and without MGs in the back:

• M113 ACAVs

• LVTP-5 / LVTH-6 

I'm actually pleasantly surprised by the ACAV and the LVTP.  The photos don't do them justice.  The Toyotas are very good, but the gunner is a bit rough as you can see.

More bulletins as events warrant....

Christmas Loot

For Christmas I received some money from relatives, and that has been spent on some more 6mm - more bulletins once the figures arrive.  I've already mentioned my paints Vallejo paints as well.

 

I also had some money from my wife, so I immediately set about giving it to TooFatLardies.

 

I picked up:

• Bag the Hun - WW2 Aerial Combat (expanded to Post War in various Specials)
• Sharp Practice - Napoleonic Skirmish (large number of scenarios and expansions available)
• Kiss Me Hardy - Napoleonic Naval Rules (hopefully get my Wizkids Pirates back out)

Plus I picked up a number of Specials, which amongst a whole heap of other stuff contained:

• Summer 2004 : Up your Cara al Sol - Spanish Civil War and A Bunch of Limey Gangsters - Commandos for IABSM
• Christmas 2005 : To Die for a Tie - Korean War for IABSM
• Summer 2006 : What's for Afters - Pegasus Bridge scenarios, and Grabbing Mussolini's Baubles - InterWar conflicts for IABSM

Slow Progress on the Paras

No navel-gazing on what happened in the last year, or what I'd like to do this year. You and I both know that it's tough to find the time to paint and game, and that I have a whole heap of things I want to game.  Lets move on!

My Christmas package from Maelstrom Games in the UK was delayed due to the heavy snows but finally arrived when I came back to work on Wednesday.  I picked up a hodgepodge of items; some dice and scenic materials, and my first ever batch of Vallejo paints.

My wife had offered to get me a voucher at the local Games Workshop for some more paint for Christmas, but a quick look at the AU retail prices of GW paint, vs the Maelstrom pricing on the Vallejo made the decision very easy.

I ordered individual pots of the paints that comprise the Battlefront British and German paint sets.  Unfortunately I have a habit of always missing one item whenever I order from Maelstrom.  In this case, I forgot the 983 Flat Earth, which is a key colour for the Denison Smocks of my Paras!  I have this coming soon, once my brother can escape the floodwaters around Rockhampton.

Rather than wait for the missing paint to turn up, I got started last night.  Only spent a few minutes, but I'm very happy with using the vallejo with a "wet palette" (another new experience for me - Thanks Thomas!)

I'm going to try to have most of the base uniforms painted (trousers and most of the denison smock) for the figures before the Flat Earth turns up to finish the smocks.  Thens it's just webbing, weapons, flesh and headgear to finish them!....