Scotia Recoiless Rifle with H&R crew

One quick deviation before we jump into some more World War 2 models.
A while back I based up one of the larger (105mm-ish) Scotia Micromodels Recoiless Rifles with some Heroics&Ros WW2 US artillery crew (so sort of on track for the WW2 thing!).  This is again for my Argentine forces for the Falklands Project.

This shows the Scotia model a bit more clearly than some of my earlier shots.  I think they fit together quite well.

Heroics & Ros Modern German Support

While I wait for a sample of steel paper to arrive so that I can push ahead with my MicroDux basing, here is a quick post of the contents of the Heroics and Ros M9 Modern German Infantry Support.

There are 8 strips in the code, four each of the following two strips:

Observer, ATGM and crew, Man-pack SAM operator

Heavy Mortar, HMG, AT weapon

These were purchased to provide some support weapons to my Argentines for the somewhat languishing Falklands project.
I WILL get back to that soon (once I get over my Dux Britanniarum diversion)!

Argentine Infantry Work in Progress

Here is one of my unpainted Argentine infantry sections accompanied by a bazooka team (click for a larger image).

These guys have been languishing in the cupboard for the better part of the last month since I originally based and undercoated them while various things have prevented me from getting them finished off.

They're next off the line though, before I go back to finish the unpainted UK Marines.

Here's the rest of the current understrength company.  I still need another platoon to bring it up to full strength, and it's missing any mortar support.

The missing figures for the final platoon will be ordered from Heroics and Ros this coming month (August), and hopefully I can get the Brits finished off before polishing off that final platoon.

Mortars for both sides are not done yet because I want to model some digging in around them, and I'm not entire sure how exactly I want to proceed with that.  There are some very evocative images of pits cut into the peat to get down to solid matter for the base plate that I want to have a shot at doing.  Maybe some trials later....

I've been a little stalled on the Falklands project overall.

I'd been reading "Above All, Courage" and the firsthand accounts of the attack on the RFA Sir Galahad from Guardsmen, Navy Pilots and medical staff had been quite confronting.  Coupled with stresses from work I had temporarily shelved the whole thing. 

 Now that I've managed to bite the bullet and get some figures moving again I picked up the book again this morning over breakfast on the deck here at home.  This time it was accounts from 2 Para (Chris Keeble and John Crossland, with a few more to go) from the section of the book on Darwin and Goose Green, and they've helped to push me back on again.
Certainly recommend this book, full of interesting little details and the realities (as far as I can judge) of war.

Alternate uses for H&R M7 - #1 Special Forces

As promised in an earlier post I believe that there are a number of alternate uses that the Heroics and Ros Soviet Airborne infantry pack can be put to use as.
First up we have Special Forces.
Below are some UK special forces for my Falklands War games that I've just knocked together (larger images if you click).  These are a mix of figures from the Soviet Airborne and the Royal Marines packs.
This is the first time I've ever flocked or grassed a base, so please be gentle...

The soviet pack is particularly useful for the sniper figure and the figure with the binocular (both on round bases).

And here are some work in progress pics.  

First up the "conversions", which were simply just adding a squarish blob of greenstuff to make bergens for the Soviet figures.

Then the undercoat makes it all look like it was meant to be.

Slap on some paint and you're done!

Heroics & Ros Modern Germans

So I picked up one of the M8 Modern German Infantry codes in my last order from Heroics and Ros.  The main reason was to attempt to find suitable figures for my Malvinas Argentine forces.  The H&R WW2 US troops are a little to stiff and parade ground for what I want, and the M1 Modern US all have packs, which appears to have not been common at all in the Argentine forces on the islands.

The pack I received had some pretty bad flash which I've attempted to quickly clean up for the pics, but you can still see traces.  I have no idea how long my pack may have sat on the shelves, but Andy from H&R was going to go and check the moulds, so hopefully you won't have the same experience if you purchase.

Enter the M8 Modern Germans!  (click the pics to enlarge)

First the Infantry Strip - five of these in the code.

As you can see, these have a bit more "get up and go" than the WW2 US.  A comparison pic below.

My infantry sections are made up of bases of figures from both codes.  With a strip of each I get 3 x 5 rifle bases and 2 x LMG bases.

The Modern German infantry code also has some ATGM (Milan probably) strips as per below.  3 strips per code.

Probably useful if the Cold War repelling the Soviet hordes fantasy is your thing, but basically into the bits box for me.

I really need to come up with something I can do with all the ATGM teams I've accumulated from the Brits and now the Germans...

With the pack of M8 Modern German Infantry I now have an understrength (2 platoons) infantry or marine company for the Argentines based and undercoated.  I need to pick up another pack to round out the entire company.

Update and some Argentine Aircraft

Well folks it's been quite a while since my last post.
Things have been pretty hectic with work and around home so I haven't had much chance to post.
On hte hobby front things have slowed down, but not quite as much as the blog posting!
Teh main thing that has been holding me up was getting some figures for my argentine infantry that had more animation than the somewhat parade ground posing of the H&R WW2 US figures.  A batch bits and pieces arrived from merry old england a couple of weeks ago, and so we're back up and running again.  I've done some simple conversions that I want to complete painting before I post them, and I now have an understrength Argentine company based and undercoated.
So more updates hopefully in the month of July.
In the interim I'll leave you with some pics of the Pucara and the Puma models from Heroics and Ros (click on them for enlarged versions)
.
I haven't done any aircraft modelling since I was a kid, and based on my experience with these two and the Wasp and Wessex for the Brits, I think I have a lot to learn.

First the Pucara.  The horizontal tail planes come as a separate piece to be attached at the top of a stub tail cast to the body.  In the front-on pic you can see the kink where they join.

 The model doesn't come with any stores for under the wings, so I think I'll need to pick up some suitable rockets and bombs from somewhere.
 
 Next the Puma.  Not sure whether to put the blades on as provided or replace with transparent plastic disks for that "blades rotating fast" look.  I have a lot of helicopters to do for this project and I probably need to select one method or the other....
Keen for any advice.

H&R Scorpion and Scimitar

Undercoated Scorpion (BM05) and Scimitar (BM06) from Heroics and Ros that will be used to represent the Blues and Royals in my Falklands games.  Seen here with (STILL) the only painted base of my UK Falklands infantry. (larger image when clicked)

Update

Well, work and home have stepped in, in their usual fashion, over the last few months resulting in not a lot of progress on anything related to the hobby.
I did manage to put a bit of a push on over the last couple of days to get some hobby stuff done, and made a few discoveries, which should be the subject of some future posts over the next month.
The big result from this weekend was getting my Falklands War British forces moving along again.

The above picture (click for larger image) shows the four test bases that have progressed no further from this post in February, along with the rest of the Royal Marine company, which (as of this weekend) are now based and ready for the brush.
I'm still note sure what to do with the bases yet in terms of paint (and what colours?) vs. flock.

I'm still don't have any Argentine figures I like.  I will be ordering some more sample packs from H&R later this week in an attempt to locate something in about the right kit but a bit more dynamic than the WW2 US sculpts (ie, like the UK sculpts above).

6mm Temperate DPM - better pics

Some better pics of the first attempt to do 6mm DPM for my Falklands UK forces.  Clicking on the pics should give you a larger image.
Here is the half section I've done to date.  The figures are a mix of Heroics and Ros M5-British Infantry (helmets) and M14 Royal Marines (berets).  I've given the beret figures a green beret as I suspect my early games will be Royal Marine Commandos rather than the Paras or the Guards.

I'm very happy with my experiment using scatter to scrim the helmets.  I've done it here as an experiment, but in future I'll only be doing it as the final precursor to sealing the figures with a flat varnish (after the bases are all done).
Probably needs some further experimentation with colour and technique, but overall I'm pretty happy.  The flesh colour I used was too runny, which created issues, particularly with the marine on the left.

I have three more bases to do that have only had the base uniform colour at the moment.  The four bases you see below are the product of mixing one strip each of the two codes (M5 and M14), with two figures firing Carl Gustav or similar put into a bag for later.

6mm temperate DPM roughly

I have been drowned under a wave of work of late, so no further progress on the Reading List, as all of my communiting time is currently spent emailing and writing proposals.
My cable internet has failed the last couple of nights, so while I've been sitting on hold for an hour each night, I put together a couple of infantry bases and have started to play with painting DPM. 
Here is a blurry picture of last night's effort, as the SD card for my main camera has given up the ghost and I had to take this with my phone.

More pics soon as my wife just called to say the internet is dead again, so I have another hour on-hold to tech support planned for this evening.....

6mm Argentine Vehicles

I picked up a number of helicopters (and a Pucara) as part of the recent order from Heroics and Ros, but these really need to be assembled to be appreciated, so I'l be putting up some pics of those when I get that done.
Also for the Argentines I picked up a few vehicles.  Because of the soft peat that constitues about 80% of the islands, most vehicles had to stick to the few roads, or risk getting heavily bogged down.
First up FM06 - AML H 90. (click the pics for a larger image)

 This is a nice model.  The body and turret are separate pieces.  The Argentines had a number of these landed at Stanley, but they apparently never left the town.  I'm still going to pick up a few for some what-if scenarios, and they are useful for a range of post-WW2 conflicts.

Next we have USM13 - LVTP-7 and US38 - Jeep.
These are nice, single part casts.  The one issue with the single cast approach is that there is a large piece of flash/sprue beneath the gun on the LVTP to enable it to be cast.  I'm uncertain whether to paint it out, or attempt to cut.  Further investigation required...

The LVTP's obviously were involved in the original landing, so I'll be using them to game those, and maybe some what-if scenarios as well.

6mm Argentine Heavy Weapons

Today its the Heroics and Ros USR2 - WW2 US Heavy Weapons code.  I picked up a bag of these looking for heavy weapons for my Argentine forces, with the same reasoning that lead me to select USR1 - WW2 US Infantry as a possible option for infantry forces.  Don't forget to click the pictures for larger versions.

First up, the command strip.  It seems that most of the H&R WW2 "weapons" codes includes the ubiquitous command strip.  These consist of two three-man command teams as below, inclusive of radio operators.  Certainly workable for my purposes, but there is a little flash around the second operator from the left.

 Next, the Mortar/Bazooka Strip.

 This is the real reason I picked selected USR2 - WW2 US Heavy Weapons: Bazookas!
Quite a useful strip:

• One figure with flamethrower (not useful for this conflict, but he can be put away for other duties)
• Two-man Bazooka team (note that there is some sprue connecting the rear of the bazooka to the Assistant for casting purposes that needs to be trimmed - it's not some massive oversized bazooka!)
• Three-man Heavy Mortar team
• Two-man Light Mortar team

And finally, the MG Strip.

This strip is less useful.  Many of the MGs are obviously older WW2-era models which are unsuitable for the Argentine inventory of MAG MGs and US 0.50cal's.  The MG in the middle is an obvious water-cooled model.  Maybe with some judicious filing?  The final AA MG is useful "straight out of the box", as is the engineer/mine sweeper.

And there you have it.
The crucial item I am missing is 105mm Recoiless Rifles....more on those another day.
Tomorrow : some Argentine vehicles...

6mm Argentine Infantry

As far as I am aware, no one makes a 6mm Argentine infantry figure, so I was always destined to be substituting and converting figures for these.
I figure that at this scale, the most important thing was to get the head gear about right, which meant figures with the US M1 helmet.
To kick things off, I picked up a pack of USR1 - WW2 US Infantry, as pictured below.

There are five of these strips per code. 
To be honest, I'm a little disappointed with these figures, as they lack the animation of the modern UK figures I showed a couple of days ago.
I think I'm going to have to insert some M1 - Modern US Infantry figures that I have from my Vietnam project, to get some battlefield variety.

The only issue here is the packs.  Based on my reading to date, only Argentine special forces had packs, the regular infantry regiments were mainly using kit bags for transport of equipment.
We'll see how it goes.....

6mm Falklands British Support Weapons

Next up for the Falklands games are British Support Weapons.
For these I have purchased M6 - British Infantry Support.
The pack consists of 8 strips with three different variations:

• 2 x Sustained Fire GPMG and light mortar team strips

•  3 x Engineers / Blowpipe team / Mortar team strips (front and back images)

 

•  3 x Milan strips

Once again, these are quite good and I'm quite happy with them.

My only criticism is the fact that the pack provides 9 Milan teams (3 strips with 3 teams each), but only 2 sustained fire MGs (one each on two strips).
With one pack I have more Milans than I'm likely to ever need for a company-sized engagement, but I'm well short on the SFMG quota.  On that front, I think the pack could be a little better balanced.

6mm Falklands British Infantry

Last week I received my order from Heroics and Ros which included samples of most of the items I will be using in my Falklands/Malvinas games this year.
I haven't put a brush to any of these yet, I've barely had time to take the photos!
I'll be using two main codes for the British infantry sections:

• M5 - British Infantry
• M14 - Royal Marines

First up,the M5 - British Infantry. (you should be able to click the image for a larger view)
 

These consist of seven strips, each one an eight-man section as above.  There are a 4 patrolling figures, one figure patrolling with a GPMG, a section commander and two figures crouching, one with a Carl Gustav or similar.  All wear scrimmed helmets and webbing.  One of the patrolling figures has a pack or section radio.  All in all, these are good figures, although some of the barrels are a bit droopy at the moment.

Next up is the M14 - Royal Marines.  As Andy from H&R described them to me in an email, these are your classic yomping/tabbing pose.  Ten heavily laden infantry wearing berets, per strip, five (5) strips per code.  Again, one figure has the GPMG and another is crouching with a Carl Gustav.

The figures look like they will be equally at home with green berets for the commandos or maroon for the paras.
My plan is to use a mix of the M5 and M14 figures (interspersed) to comprise my British companies.

Finally, a quick snap of the M14 - Royal Marines accompanied by the BM32 1/2 ton Land Rover and the BM33 3/4 ton Land Rover.

 

I reckon these look pretty good.

Razor's Edge - Initial Thoughts

I've just finished reading "Razor's Edge" By Hugh Bicheno.

I'm just going to offer some initial thoughts at the moment, as there is a lot of criticism surrounding this book and its accuracy.  I need to read more to fully understand those arguments, so I will refrain from a full review at this time.

I found the book an easy read, but I think part of this is because I already had much of the political background from slogging through Hastings & Jenkins "The Battle for the Falklands".

Bicheno is quite outspoken in his views on the British Public Service and also on the Argentine regime.  In addition, he is highly critical of 5 Brigade command and of "H" Jones.

The book contains a wealth of maps and details of the battles, which appears to make it an invaluable reference for those planning table-top scenarios, but it is this very information which is called into question by some commentators, so until my research is more complete, I won't offer a full recommendation either way at this time.

My next target is Martin Middlebrook's "The Fight for the Malvinas", to try to cement more Argentine information before I focus on more accounts from the British side.

Falklands/Malvinas Update 2

I've been off sick for the past week or so.  We believe that number one daughter brought the offending bug home from childcare.
I've been too out of it to get much reading done, but I have almost finished Bicheno's book and hope to post some first thoughts on that this weekend.
Back at work again today, and my copy of the "The Fight for the Malvinas" by Martin Middlebrook, and also my initial sampler of figures from Heroics and Ros were waiting for me on my desk!

I think I'll be going through this book next, after the Bicheno, as it looks (after the first flick through) like another good overview book.

On the figures front, I picked up a range of the codes to get a sample of the figures and vehicles that will make up the respective forces.  I'll be posting some pics and reviews over the coming weeks.

Now for some bad news.  My original intent with this project was to actually get some games in during the April/May/June timeframe of the actual conflict.  Unfortunately I've overspent my budget on the "Falklands Reading Pile", so it's probably going to be the second half of the year before I can field the full company-plus forces I need for many of the key battles such as Goose Green and the various mountains west of Stanley.  Disappointing, but the current reality.

I'm not planning on stopping though.  I should have enough with this initial purchase to game some of the smaller special forces actions, and probably the combat on South Georgia.  I may also have enough (certainly on the British side) to put together some scenarios for the initial Argentine landings in and around Stanley.

Stay tuned for more bulletins as events warrant....

More Grist for the Falklands Mill

Two more books for the Falklands/Malvinas reading list arrived today:

 Hopefully Bicheno's book will provide more Argentine insight.

The Battle for the Falklands - a Quick Review

Last night on the train home I finished reading "The Battle for the Falklands" by Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins.  I thought I'd put down a few quick words on my thoughts on the book.  I hope to do this with all of the books in my Falklands Reading List this year.

First an admission is necessary; this is the first book on my Falklands Reading List, so I really have nothing to compare it with.  This claimed by many to be the standard reference work, so I thought I'd start with it.  Future reviews of other books will obviously contain comparisons where appropriate.

I read a 1983 paperback version of the book, 448 pages (although only about 380 of these are the meat of the book), with 16 pages of black and white photos and 8 pages of maps.  In addition to the the text, maps and photos, the book contains a chronology of political and military events, a glossary of terms, a list of british decorations (both civil and military) and an interesting section outlining the ships, men and aircraft of the taskforce.  Excerpts from the "Franks Report" which was the official government report into the Falklands conflict are also presented at the end of the book, to enable the reader to compare and contrast the official findings with those presented by the authors.  A full index is also included.
Max Hastings was a journalist who accompanied the task force to the South Atlantic and appears to have a fair bit of experience reporting military matters.  Simon Jenkins was the political editor of the Economist, and so had access to many sources in Whitehall.  In the text, Jenkins covers what was happening in the UK, Argentina and the US, whilst Hastings covers the progress of the task force and the conflict "on the ground" in the Falklands.
The first point I feel I need to make here is that this is a history book rather than military war story.  The authors have done an excellent job tracing the cause of the 1982 war from the original discovery of the islands, through the various claims and occupations of the islands through to the failures of diplomacy that lead to the war. In fact, the actual Argentine invasion does not occur until more than 90 pages into the book!
There is a lot of material on the actions of the Foreign Office in negotiating with Argentina over the future of the islands, and also decisions by Defence that lead to some of the materiel issues faced by the task force.
I found some of this early material difficult to read, paricularly keeping straight in my head the revolving door of ministers and secretaries working on the negotiations.  This did however contribute to the point that the text was trying to make that continuity of office was a big contributor to the issues with the dicsussions over the islands.
The narrative of the naval battles and then the land campaign is quite good.  There is some detail on Goose Green and also the battles for Stanley as 3 Commando Brigade and 5 Brigade advanced over the mountains, although obviously a book of this size and scope cannot provide infinitesmal detail on these military actions.  Some good overview maps are provided for Goose Green and the approach to Stanley, which helped to cement things in my mind.
The book is (of necessity I think) anglo-centric, although the authors appear to have attempted where possible to use Argentinian sources.  Quotes from Argentine politicians and soldiers appear throughout, but deep analysis of Argentine actions is not possible from these.  This appears to be a more general problem with Falklands texts (at least those in English) as access to Argentine sources appears to be difficult.
Overall the book provides a very good overview of the actual conflict and has enabled me to lay out in my mind what happened where and when. This has given me a great start in working out what to read next and I also now have some good ideas for actions to bring to the table top.


I would recommend this book.  It doesn't have a lot of nitty-gritty detail on the military actions, but there is enough to give you a good overview and steer you in the direction of more detailed accounts.  It is, however, an excellent analysis of the conditions that lead to the two nations facing off over a tiny spec of land in the South Atlantic and a record of how that played out.

Falklands update 1

Not a lot of obvious progress on the Falklands project over the last ten days or so, but I assure you things are progressing!
I've been reading "The Battle for the Falklands" by Max Hastings and Simon Jennings.  It's been a difficult read at times with my current levels of sleep thanks to Abigail and her 2-hourly feeds, but I hope to finish it this week, which should mean a review next week. 
We also still have family visiting to meet Abigail, and they all stay in the room where my hobby stuff is stored, so I haven't been able to access it since Christmas.  I'm keen to get some painting done to get my brush-wok back up to scratch for the Falklands Project, and also to try to get some of the other projects languishing on the lead pile moving forward.  I also need to get started on some suitable buildings for the rural Falklands communities that will feature in the early games.
The next book to be targetted is likely to be "Goose Green" by Mark Adkin.  I also have some more books coming to add to the reading pile, particularly some more Argentine-centric reads.
I've also got an initial order in with Heroics and Ros for the figures I'll be using and I'm looking forward to those arriving.