Chain of Command

Mike has very kindly put up some pictures and a brief battle report of my inaugural Chain of Command game on his blog Trouble at T'Mill.  A fun night, I just couldn't get my last unit on when and where I wanted them.

I have been working on some Japanese Cavalry conversions pics when I get a chance and the glue has dried.  Unit of 5 so far, may bump them upto 7 but doubt will go beyond that, unless I get another unit........

A quick trip in to Nottingham today as well netted me 3x Ha Go Type 95 tanks direct from Warlords storage racks.  Many thanks to Lorenzo who sorted me out at such short notice. They are intended for my Tank Platoon for the Welsh Open at the end of September.  Should be enough time to paint them............

Type 4 & Kempetai....

Finally painted up my Type 4 150mm Heavy Howitzer from Mad Bob Miniatures, have had it sat around for ages.  Unfortunately, I got some frosting when varnishing it which accounts for some of the lighter green patches on the gun shield where I have had to touch it up.

Also finished is my Kempetai Political Officer which means I am now under an obligation to get some Bamboo Spears done for him to order about... Actual mini is a lot nicer than the photo would suggest not sure what went wrong with my photos.....bit rushed maybe...

Anyway till next time

Much mentioned Paras

And the much mentioned US Paras....incl one I am particularly fond of....

As promised pics of the freshly done Ho Ro and the newly decal-ed Chi Ha

Far far too long...

It’s been far far too long since I did any work on my IJA and consequently on this blog but progress albeit slow has been made. I have recently completed my Type 4 Ho Ro, I experimented with some new airbrush techniques, added some crew and some decals and it’s easily the best looking tank I have painted so far.

I also added some decals to my Chi Ha and it really helps breaking up the swathes of green paint. Pics to follow tonight.

I also did a quick head count of everything I have and everything that I need to paint and the end is in sight, albeit on the horizon. I just need to finish my US Para Squads first…

The current painting list of this lead addicted wargamer is thus:
2x US Para Sqds of 8 men each
2x US Para LMG teams
1x Sherman
1x Baron Nishi
27x Japanese Peasants with Bamboo Spears (a mixture of Perry and Black Hat)
1x Type 92 Light Howitzer
1x Japanese MMG
1x Kempetai
30+ Plastic Japanese infantry
10 Japanese Jungle Fighter infantry
1x Heavy Howitzer

I want to add in some 3x Ha-Go, probably another two Chi Ha for tank wars, and other bits and bobs as they get released but by and large the army is complete.

In the meantime, courtesy of Mike at Trouble at T'Mill some better shots of my Type 92s.

I have been playing around with my airbrush and have now finished my Chi Ha and both my Type 92 tankettes.  I tried the old 'mask' with blu tack on one of the tankettes but it didn't really come out how I would have liked.  I then went back to simple green basecoat for the Chi Ha and weathered it accordingly with my new oil washes and pigments.  For a very quick job I am really pleased how it came out.  It looks nicely rusty and dirty like it has been through the jungle for ages.  I liked it so much I redid my other Type 97 Shinoto Chi Ha in the same scheme as well as a Type 92 Tankette.  You can see all of them in the photos below.  In the background are my Type 94 Tankette, my Ho Ni II and the other Type 92.  The Ho Ni is next on the respray list so everything ties together.  I will probably leave the Type 92 as it is as it has had enough layers of paint on it already.

Just waiting for my Japanese decals from Warlord now!!!  May have to add some crews at some point as well to break things up a little.

Ok, so its been a while, I have been really insanely busy revising for my on going Chartered Accountancy exams but once they are out of the way in May hope to get some more IJA finished off.  A few hobby things have happened since we were last here and I thought I would break them down a bit....

Warlord have finally released the long awaited Ho-Ro Type 4 Assault Gun, still haven't got round to buying one yet but will next month when I am caught up a bit.

They have also released Baron Nishi on horseback which is a nice little mini that I will probably use as an objective marker as well as a Forward Observer team which will prove useful.  They have released some new heads and other bits to allow you to field SNLF troops which is a nice touch, just need some SNLF Paratroopers now and we are laughing!

Company B have done a Ki-Mi Amphibious tank which is AWESOME, really want one but again going to have to wait till the small pile of lead I have currently diminishes.

My Type 92 Tankettes arrived from www.trenchworx.com - check them out the quality is outstanding for 3d printed stuff.  One is currently getting a lick of paint along with my Chi Ha and I am finally trying to learn how to paint vehicles correctly, mainly as I now have an airbrush which should speed all my painting up considerably.

Finally, I have dipped my toes into writing my own list for the Spanish Civil War for Bolt Action which can be found here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ru84frdlm0biats/Bolt%20Action%20Armies%20of%20the%20Spanish%20Civil%20War%20v2.1.odt

Still work in progress.  There will be miniatures coming to match it but as I have so many IJA and a US Para Army to finish it may be some time before we see any Milicanos (well till Partizan anyway!)