366 The Grim Darkness's 1500pt Guard Army

The title says it all really - The Grim Darkness has put together a really characterful 1500pt force of Imperial Guard: the Arcadian 107th:  http://arcadian107.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/i-finished-my-imperial-guard-army.html .

Here's the group hug...

...but please check out his blog to see the details!

Stay well,

- D.

365 Time at last for a small facelift...

...Well - it was rather overdue, wasn't it?!

That's right - I've finally left the last decade behind.

[work-very-much-in-progress: any thoughts gratefully received...]

- Drax.

364 Flames of War - Normandy Hamlet (on the cheap)

Those of you who saw my last post will be aware of my dearth of Flames of War scenery.

I was certainly very painfully aware of this, so I've started to make some:

Having spent time cursing at the price of resin buildings online, I thought 'What the hell - I only need a few blocky shapes: I can whizz them out with some plasticard.

So I did. A handful of buidings and a sturdy old Norman square-tower church (sans spire):

Then, the next evening, I realised that with just a little careful measurement I could easily make some wrap-around facias for these buildings out of cornflakes boxes, and give them sparse but sufficient detail in cardboard relief too.

So I did for one of them.

Then I bunged some fine sand on the roof and gave it a lick of paint, taking my inspiration from those around me - the damp, mossy tideline around the base of the walls is entirely deliberate. From a distance (current lack of chimney notwithstanding) it's genuinely surprisingly convincing! Even Mrs Drax was impressed. They all open:

And for the hell of it, here's the side view of our little rental cottage and a couple of other views down the hill. Yes, that's thatch in the background of the third one. Twee, huh?!

More when I get around to it - including some shots with models for scale. If it helps, the painted model is 30mm tall the top of the walls.

- D.

363 Ad-Hoc Flames of War Practice Game

A couple of weeks ago I realised I really ought to practise playing a bit of Flmes of War, to get a better idea of the mechanic of it. With an evening free of work, I gave it a go.

These photos look disastrously bleak, but it really was a useful process.

Becuase I find placing terrain difficult (being an unimaginative type) I had a brainwave: why not base the terrain on that I'm familiar with within my own parish? After all, where I live is far nearer to the Bocage than it is to - say - London.

With that in mind, I chose a hamlet about a half-mile away, and brought it up at a suitable scale on google maps, before using powerpoint to overlay a 12"x12" grid onto it (shaped to fit the extended version of my dining table), so I could match the scenery to a chalked grid on my table. Here is the result:

Sadly, what was lacking was any terrain at all. The only terrain I have at home is 40K Cityfight terrain...so I improvised in the most basic, late-night way imagainable: I drew the terrain on in different coloured chalk (essentially giving myself a map to play on) and used a mix of small tubs and my daughter's wooden railway houses as the buildings and objectives. I'm not proud.

This is what the real terrain looks like (remember: this is familiar to me - I can clearly picture it in my head): 

...and this is what my interpretation of it looked like. I know - it's laughable, right? I should note that the chalk was far clearer in reality. Remember though - a better understanding of the game mechanic was my aim here:

 looking from north-west

 this and below: same view as googlemap image

looking east-to-west

Overall, it was very useful indeed at ironing some things out. Needless to say, even playing myself blue-on-blue I still lost.

Importantly I discovered the following things:

• true sightlines really do make a significant difference in Flames of War;
• I really need to make some scenery (and I am - more soon!);
• Close assault is BRUTAL in Flames;
• Veteran troops are hard as nails, and
• The softcover rulebook cannot withstand more than one game. Rats.

362 ...did someone say 'Arbites on Bikes'?!

Col. Scipio has been rightfully showcasing his Enforcers, and that reminded me of something kicking around in the vaults of my collection...something I bought as a work-in-progress 8 years ago and tinkered with a little more before I moved house - here they are: my bike-mounted Adeptus Arbites:

 Untouched and unloved in five years!

And here's the rest of the Arbites stuff I have kicking around (including - in the bag - a significant array of forgotten conversion bits, like an extra 'Judge Dredd' helmet to sit on the back of the boss's bike):

At one point I bought an old-style immolator/suppressor as a ride for them too, but that got requisitioned by my long-gone Black Templars.

More from the vaults soon, I think!

- Drax.

361 Advice Sought: How Do I Equip an Armoured Sentinel?

Exactly as it says above, folks: I'm after a bit of advice, please!

[image from GW]

One of my very very few 40K purchases over the last three years was a partially (badly) made armoured sentinel...dirt-cheap on ebay.

HOWEVER...

I've never played with one before: they seem an incredible points sink, but I really like the model. My question though, is what do people think is the best armorment and tactical role for it?

Please help if you've any insights!

Many thanks,

- Drax.