Resistance is not futile!

I did mention last time that I've actually been able to do some painting recently. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to steal a post title from Kieron despite talking about something completely different, so here are some luvverly pictures of my recently painted WW2 partisans for Bolt Action.

Let's start with the pièce de résistance (see what I did there?) - a captured Puma:

Eight wheels, two drivers, all awesome

A demonstration of how much difference different light can make to a photo!

I was pleasantly surprised by how easy this was to paint - basically, a base coat, highlight, bit of ink and it was done! I'm using the Armies of France and Allies book for my partisan force, which (in the later war anyway) allows them to take any captured German or Italian vehicle. The catch is that they can only be inexperienced, and they take an additional pin marker each time they get pinned (so after a couple of turns under fire, they're really going to struggle to do anything). For that reason, the Puma seems like a good bet - it's a recce vehicle with dual direction steering, which means it's allowed to run away when it gets fired on, and can do so very quickly. My hope is that this will mean I can avoid taking too many pin markers, so I can keep that AT gun firing and at least cause any enemy vehicles to think twice before moving.

Speaking of AT weapons...

So far I've not actually achieved much with anti-tank rifles in real games of Bolt Action - they don't put out enough shots (and are too affected by range etc) to be any good at sniping, and they're too feeble to be much of a threat to vehicles other than soft skins. On the other hand, it's another die in the pot for only a few points, and as a small team they have some protection from being shot at.

Also in the "there's only two of us, maybe no one will notice" area is this light mortar:

No idea yet what this will achieve as I've yet to use it in a game, but again, it's an extra unit for only a few points.

Finally for the weapon teams, here's an MMG!

OMG!

This is something I think my force has been lacking up to now, as it gives more ability to hurt enemy infantry squads, and perhaps even more importantly to get pin markers onto them so they're less able to operate. Again I haven't used it yet, but hopefully adding it in to my force will provide a bit more effective firepower.

I've also painted a few regular infantry to bulk my force out a bit more.

These, and all three weapons teams, have been made from the Perry Miniatures Afrikakorps set. That box contains loads of models, and they're all multi-part (including separate hats!) which meant I was able to put together lots of models with what (hopefully) looks like a mishmash of bits of stolen German uniform and civilian clothes. This needed a bit of cutting to take off webbing and a few extra pockets, but was pretty straightforward.

I then, somewhat belatedly, realised that this look means I can also use these models as Volkssturm (the final German conscripts that were called up at the end of the war). The ability to use pretty much the same force for both Axis and Allies really appeals, so I got a bit carried away and bought the new Last Levy box at Triples. Expect models from that to make an appearance soon.

To add some more inexperienced fighters and take advantage of their ability to save points with less useful weapons, I painted up these shotgun-armed civilians:

I originally got these for VBCW games, which they've never been used for (that's starting to be something of a theme).

I also wanted a suitable commander figure who wasn't too obviously wearing a military uniform, and I found this guy in an Artizan Designs "SAS Saboteurs" pack:

"When I point, I really point!"

Looks nice and civilian, has a nice pose, decent detail, easy to paint... but I really wish I'd done something about that massive sausage finger before I started. Oh well.

Finally, the rest of the SAS pack provided some extra infantry, carrying satchel bombs which will help mark out a squad as carrying anti tank grenades.

Beards are not optional!

I now have a target of getting 1000 points of this army done, which at this stage needs about 20 models for my current plan. Of course, my plans change all the time, so who knows what I'll eventually end up with?

To finish, here's a group shot that neatly demonstrates that I need to work out how to change the depth of field on my camera...

Ooops.

Triumphant Return to Posting

Yes, my adoring public, that's right - I have returned from the wilderness, ready to brighten your day with my well-informed, exquisitely-crafted, low-fat, easy-clean blog postings! Please form an orderly queue to shower me with praise, adulation, and crisp, large denomination banknotes.

Anyone?

Fine, be like that then. 

I'm back, anyway. This blog post has been awaiting my attention for some time, and it still won't really be complete by the time I post it. Hopefully your expectations have now been sufficiently lowered for me to crack on.

The delay in posting is largely explained by the arrival of this character:

I'm asleep!

That's Nathan, and he turned up in March. Working in concert with his big sister, he's done a pretty good job of either removing all my free time or leaving me too tired to do much with it (or in a few cases, both). Having two children under two in the house makes things... interesting. Still, in a couple of months I'm sure he'll be able to give me a game of Flames of War or something, so it's all good.

Before the number of young children in the house doubled, I managed to paint up my first fireteam for Force on Force - some Chinese PLA.

Poor camerawork here makes it look like they're all avoiding eye contact

I've got a lot more of these to do, but for the moment my painting time has become focused on my Partisans for Bolt Action... which I don't have any pictures of yet. Something to look forward to for my next post I suppose.

I've actually been able to keep up with more gaming than I thought I would - mostly in board games. The two most popular in our group recently have been Lords of Waterdeep and Axis and Allies 1941. I've been able to win at both, so we won't mention anything about the times I didn't win.

I've also managed to arrange to sneak out next weekend to Triples, and for once don't have any concrete ideas for what I might acquire while I'm there! So that's likely to be interesting - watch this space for details of whatever wildly ambitious project I decide to embark on as a result!