Burma British

I've now had a chance to quickly paint up a few opponents for the Japanese.  Again nothing special, simple block painting, a quick wash and then highlights.

I also quickly painted the Sherman.

Unfortunately, the tracks appear to have suffered in storage and it has developed a lean.  Never mind, it will suffice for now.

Next batch have received a watered down PVA wash in preparation for priming tomorrow.

I quick look on the Too Fat Lardies Yahoo Group has revealed two lists for the Japanese, with Type B apparently being suitable for Burma.  This is going to stretch my plastic resources as the rifle squads consist of a corporal, a LMG squad with three crew and a nine man rifle section each.  I may simple reduce numbers as I'm planning actions based on George MacDonald Fraser's memoirs, Quartered Safe out Here which relates his involvement in the 1945 campaign.

Burma Japanese

Well, it couldn't last.  I've managed to be relatively good so far this year and stay focused, however, I recently reread Field Marshall Slim's memoir of the war in Burma, Defeat into Victory, and had a bright idea.  There's a large box of old Airfix plastic figures in the loft.  Further investigation revealed a box of both  Matchbox Japanese and ANZACs so I decided to quickly, to be fair very quickly, slap some paint on a few and give them a quick wash.  They're not going to win any prizes but applying the three foot rule give a wargames standard I'm prepared to live with.

Lists for Chain of Command have yet to be finalised but I'm reasonably confident that I should have most of the figures required.  I can always buy a few metal figures to round things off but the Japanese in particular shouldn't require much in the way of support.   I did find a plastic Sherman which I'll paint up though for the Brits.

I'm trying to convince myself that this isn't a new period but an extension of an ongoing project and it's not that I had to buy any new figures either.  Anybody convinced?

The downside is that I have no jungle scenery and of course this could also be used for Indo-China which I've been thinking about for ages.  I'm sure I'll submit in the event the CoC amendments are released. 

Danes - Second Schleswig War

Painting continues at its normal snail's pace but I've at last completed some Danes for my Nineteenth Century project based on Neil Thomas' book.  This represents the infantry, minus command stands, for the Battle of Oeversee as described in Chapter 11.  Figures are by Pendraken although to speed things along I've gone with 15mm basing rather than that suggested for 10mm.  Just simple block painting with a brown ink wash to blend things together.

Uniforms are very similar to Union troops during the American Civil War and I'm wondering if I can get away with using them for both.

This is one of those little remembered European conflicts with obscure origins, Palmerston's famous quote about only three people knowing the origins springs to mind, although the recent BBC series may go some way to changing that.  I've recorded the first two episodes but not had a chance to watch them yet.

I've now based up the rest of the Danes and the Austrian contingent, however, I'm waiting for a dry day to prime them.  The aim is to paint up Prussians for Rackebull after and then move to the 1866 Austro-Prussian War and finally to the 1870 Franco-Prussian.

The Somme Part III - Eperlecques

Having a bit of time to kill before we were due on the Tunnel last year we decided to visit the Blockhaus at Eperlecques.  This massive concrete structure was apparently designed as a V2 launch area.

The actual building is a testament to the determination of the Germans even at that stage of the war although it has to be remembered that slave labour was used.  Thankfully it was never used for its intended purpose having been bombed extensively by the allies.

One of the V2 launch pads.

A V1 on its launching ramp.

Aside from the massive concrete structure are a selection of militaria although there is little apparent in the way of order and the impression is that they are just left where they were dumped.

Overall, the Blockhaus was a bit of a disappointment especially considering the ten euro entrance charge.  The building itself is, undeniably, impressive but little has been undertaken to explain the story of the V2 or the other Vengeance weapons.  A further opportunity has also been lost by the failure to sort the other exhibits which are just dotted around the site in a seemingly random fashion.

That aside, we assembled back at the car before heading to Calais and home while reflecting on the overall success of the trip.  Plans were already being discussed for another trip the following year and this will feature in posts in, hopefully, the not too distant future.

The Somme Part II

Sunday dawned, if anything it promised to be an even better day than Saturday.  We returned to Pozieres to look at the Tank Corps Memorial, a prefect example of our lack of planning

Next was Thiepval, an extremely sobering memorial to the missing of the Somme with over 73,000 names of men who have no known grave.  I was lucky enough to get there before the crowds in the museum and able to spend a few quiet moments contemplating.

With a small cemetery attached.

Nearby is the 18th Division Memorial.

And a short walk leads you to the Ulster Tower, a memorial to the 36th (Ulster) Division.

The final port of call turned out to be the highlight of the trip at the Newfoundland Memorial Park.  The Newfoundlanders story is one of the saddest of many harrowing tales from 1st July 1916 with the regiment suffering one of the highest casualty rates on the day.

There are also sections of preserved trenches.

Together with several small cemeteries.

And the 51st (Highland) Division Memorial.

We retired to the nearby "Ocean Villas" tearooms for another late lunch and a discussion of the day's events before returning to base.  Another excellent day with much to see and we still felt that we'd only begun to scratch the surface of what there is to see.  Sadly this was our last day on the Somme although we had planned a short excursion on the way home.  More in the next post.

The Somme Part I

As mentioned in my last post, I'm off to Ypres this weekend with some friends for a short tour of the battlefields, hopefully to include Waterloo.  This follows the success of last year's trip to the Somme as part of my research to my great grandfather's involvement in the First World War.  He served in the Royal Garrison Artillery and was killed in October 1918.

First stop was to visit his grave in Rosiel, just outside Peronne.

Next day we visited Albert for supplies and a look around the 1916 Museum before heading to Lochnagar Crater where a huge mine was detonated on 1st July 1916.

Next was the Red Dragon memorial to the 38th (Welsh) Division after their attack on Mametz Wood.

We then headed to Pozieres for the Australian Monument and the Gibraltar blockhouse.

We adjourned for a late lunch in the Tommy Cafe, Pozieres before heading back to base to contemplate the day and plan for the morrow.  One lesson I definitely learnt was that far more preparation would be required to gain a more thorough understanding of events and we felt we'd barely scratched the surface.  It is truly humbling to come across a tiny cemetery or memorial and almost every crossroad and to see how well they are looked after by both the CWGC and the locals.

Part II to follow.

Norman Milites and Saxon Infantry

Painting has been proceeding at its usual leisurely pace but the Hastings project is now coming along nicely.  I've finished nine Conquest Games Norman Milites, the strike force of William's army.  I'm not really a fan of painting cavalry, particularly in 28mm which is why efforts to paint an army for the English Civil War have ground to a halt, but these were relatively straightforward.  I experimented with an alternative style for painting chainmail, silver with a black wash, which made life easier.

I'm waiting on an order from Warbases to complete them and I need to decide how to approach the shields.  The Bayeux Tapestry shows a limited range of different designs but I've been taken with the Little Big Men transfers for my Saxons, see below.  Unfortunately, they don't appear to make any for the Conquest miniatures, I could use generic ones or possibly Veni Vidi Vici unless anybody has any sugestions?

A casualty figure is included in the box which will make a useful marker when I get around to basing it.

I've also applied the transfers to the Gripping Beast plastic Saxons which, I think, really enhances the figures especially given my efforts at painting.  Commander and standard bearer, I'm not sure whether to purchase a special Harold figure but he will suffice for now.

Two units on Warbases movement trays for Basic Impetus.

I've nearly finished painting some more infantry and archers for both sides.  I've misplaced yet another figure, this time a Norman archer from Black Tree.  Whether it was missing from the order or whether it's my fault I'm not sure but tend towards the latter.  Thankfully, Impetus does not prescribe numbers of figures so I should be able to get away with it in the short term.

By my calculations, I'm not two thirds of the way through the painting.  Let's hope the motivation holds but I'm off to Ypres and, hopefully, Waterloo at the weekend so I can see myself becoming sidetracked.  At least Napoleonics is one of my main projects for this year.