Christmas haul 2016

A very merry Christmas back in Kent has resulted in a splendid haul of new models. Of particular note, a pair of Moebius 1/72 Cylon Raiders (BSG is my favourite sci fi at the moment!) and the new PSC 25lb gun howitzers - thanks to a blog review elsewhere on the Internet, I'm going to make four guns by using the wheels intended for for the limber trailers on the spare gun barrels and carriages.

Most of the rest are colonial or 1700s rare pieces, so happy days!

Panzer III Ausf L Flammpanzer

This is a German late war flame tank, a Panzer III fitted with a large flamethrower instead of a main gun. I have exaggerated its appearance by placing two large fuel drums on the back with some petrol cans, both from the PSC German tank accessories. The turret and hull have extra armour but to differentiate it from my other late war tanks I've gone for a conservative grey colour scheme and no side skirts (Schurtzen). This is one of three late Pz IIIs from the Plastic Soldier Company box. The other two have schurtzen and are fitted with a short 75mm and long barrelled 50mm gun respectively. The kit goes together very well and the slightly chunkier scale makes it both robust and easy to customise with extra furniture. One of my favourites.

PSC Shermans

I have finally downloaded Blogger on my phone, so I feel I can start catching up with lots of posts on this blog.
This posts focuses on my first trio of Plastic Soldier Company Sherman tanks. They consist of two Fireflies and an M4A4.
One of the Fireflies I converted into a depiction of the eponymous tank from the film Fury. Lots of stowage on the fireflies give them a real lived-in feel.

The Firefly mounted the most potent British antitank gun of World War 2, the 17-pounder. It was the only weapon that could take on the heavier German tanks of 1944 /1945 with consistent efficiency. However, the Shermans so armed would have a distinct extended turret and the gun itself was noticeably longer than the average 75mm. The hull mounted machine gun was also removed, but no extra armour was provided.

Neil Thomas's One Hour Wargames - a framework for my collections

When I moved to Bristol a couple of years ago I brought quite a few unfinished projects with me spanning a number of historical periods, but I found myself a bit lost in my hobby with no clear direction regarding what I exactly wanted from my plastic hordes. In early 2015 I purchased One Hour Wargames by Neil Thomas and was pleasantly surprised to find a very basic set of rules for a number of historical periods. As a former 40k player the sheer simplicity of the rules was a welcome break from counting points and customising individual models with their own special equipment. Instead the rules have just four different categories of unit and army composition is randomly generated (by throwing a d6 and looking on a small chart).

The rules I am looking to use first are for WW2 and the Machine Age (i.e. WW1) so I can field and use my collection of Boer War, Great War, and WW2 units. It is a case of painting up and basing the appropriate number of units to have a game with. Over the past year I have only managed to finish two armies - a late 1800s Colonial British force, and a Boer army to face them, but I haven't got round to playing the Machine Age rules with them. 

I will change Thomas's rules slightly to represent the nature of Boer War fighting - mainly by replacing the "Heavy Infantry" category with Elite Infantry for the British (represented by Scottish kilted infantry) and Pom-Pom Gun Teams for the Boers (giving them some extra firepower against their oppressors). The Gun Teams will bolster Boer firepower in an area of the battlefield by having an increased range and slight damage bonus over normal Boer rifles, but they are vulnerable if not attached to another Boer unit, taking only 10 hits to kill rather than the usual 15. Comparatively the Scots will be able to take more damage than the regulars (20 hits over the usual 15 - "It takes twice as much to kill a Scotsman!") and they will fire a deadlier volley (+ 2 damage when shooting). I will have to play-test the rules and see how they work. The one thing missing in One Hour Wargames is morale and leadership. As I am used to using the Warhammer 40k Leadership tests this might be transferable to the Boer War rules, but I may simplify them further, with a morale test after 2/3 casualties, where a 5-6 enables them to stay in position, a 3-4 has them fall back 2D6" and a 1-2 has them wiped out (not regrouping). I have also made Commander bases to convey leadership bonuses, and am tempted to use these in larger games (no morale tests for units within 12" of the commander, for example).  

I want to write up my Boer War rules as soon as possible on the blog, so stay tuned!

This is the front cover of the Wargames rules:

Welcome to the Command Bunker!

The all important first post! Fix bayonets and prepare to advance (into Blogger!)!

This isn't the first blog I've written. I had one on the World War 1 Centenary and another on my modelling hobby but they were Wordpress ones that eventually burnt out over the course of a year or so. This blog is to resurrect the latter blog (Also called "From the Command Bunker") and to stick with it this time!

This blog will cover all of my hobby's projects and activities, as well as matters of military history, which is my main passion in life. I predominantly collect 1/72 scale figures and vehicles, 1/144 scale planes and helicopters (larger ones take up far too much room!) and 1/600 or 1/700 scale warships.

The main periods I tend to cover are the 2 World Wars and 19th Century Colonial conflicts, though I am now starting to expand into Napoloeonic, 1700s, English Civil War and Medieval periods, as I get easily distracted! As a result, I have a massive project list and lots of plastic boxes filled with figures, guns and accessories. Plastic? I feel like I'm drowning in the stuff at times, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

I started making and painting and collecting classic Airfix 1/72 WW2 planes at the age of 10, delved into Warhammer 40k in my early to mid teens (so expensive, and thereby unpopular with the parents!), took a break and then got back into modelling by making tanks and ships as I was studying at Exeter, back in 2006. Now I'm in my late 20s I've come to the conclusion that I will always have this as my main hobby! 

I am going to try to maintain regular activity on this blog - the last one died when I relocated from Kent to Bristol - and will try to post about both my current and finished projects. May this be the first of many posts! Hope you enjoy reading it!

- Chris