My Generation Was Killed - Part 6 - The Storm…

 

‘Sup Killers, what a week… If you haven’t had enough rain yet, you’re obviously NOT reading this in Aotearoa… I wouldn’t say it was wet, but this week I saw a dude with a massive wooden boat full of animals float past my house…

So what’s been happening..? TBH, not a great deal… I purchased a bulk load of O Gauge railway gear on TM and picked it up. That saw me tinkering with it for a wee while…! I’ll get into modelling in a bit, first up, what’s with this weeks title, eh..?🤔

As you know, this list is based on GK, well in Episode 1”Get Some” there are two events that happened that made me realise these were the dudes I was working with. And if I have mentioned these before, please bear with me… I decided to finally watch the series in 2023. I was on my own in a hotel in WLG working for the week, Sarah was in the UK visiting whanau, and I decided now was the time…

The first event was ‘The Storm’. As you can see in the opening Meme pic, things got a little ‘dusty’… I took that pic in the morning, AFTER the storm had finished. I wouldn’t say it was a big storm, but there was an 800m long sand dune to the left of our position that ended up on the right…

Here’s a couple of pics from GK, poor screen-grabs as I couldn’t find any on T’internet.

Go check the episode out, things get a little hairy, “I Need Marines with hammers NOW…”!!!

A little back story: We arrived at the concentrating area to find a sea of local-built tents as seen below:

We were allocated a tent, and as it was all SNCO’s and Officers, we had it fairly cruisy for space as you can see below. Mines the space with the larger Cross of St George. Note the absence of anything remotely desert coloured…!

Sleeping mat on the floor was eventually upgraded to a folding ‘Z Bed’, but that’s a story for another time… 😉

So, local tent, middle of nowhere in the desert. Our CSM, Laurence “Lol’ Wood (Named before LOL was a thing…!) Mustered us on day one after we had dropped our Bergen's and told us we were going to, “Water the Tent”… Many looks of ‘Has he lost it already’ were passed around, but no, he went on to describe what we were to do, each and every morning. 

First thing we had to do tho was ‘dig the tent in’. This meant taking that flap that is at the bottom of the tent and instead of folding it outwards, digging a 2-foot trench all round the tent, dropping the flap back in, then re-filling the trench with sand, covering the flap. The Toms in the next tent just stared at us and thought we were mad. I must admit I too thought it odd…

We then had to ‘water’ the tent pegs, ‘flap trench’ and poles. That meant taking bottled water, of which we had COPIOUS amounts, and pouring a bottle on each tent peg and pole, and the flap trench. Day after day, bottle after bottle… After about a week, we basically had a 2-foot concrete post around each peg and pole, and a solid concrete trench holding the tent to the floor. This was to prove to be pure genius…

You see, this was not Lol’s first trip to the sandpit, and he knew a few things. He was Para-Trained and had some skills to pay the bills. I was glad he was in our basha, and also glad we got on like old friends.

So, week or two in, and we had what became known as ‘The Blockhouse’. Then the storm hit… I remember waking up at Zero-Dark Hundred, unable to see or breath. Someone shouted, “Get your Rezzies (S10 CBRN Respirator) on!!” So we did. Headtorch on top of Rezzie we headed outside, as the inside of the Blockhouse was a swirling maelstrom of sand.

Outside. Well, that was a thing… This was a full-on ‘Haboob’ and it was a doozy… Tents were being ripped from the sand and flung around like FOW minis at a J-Flip. Port-A-Loos were spinning through the air, depositing their blue fun-fluid alles uber die platz… It was absolute chaos.

We helped others where we could, then eventually retreated to the ‘safety’ of the Blockhouse to await our fate… The Haboob eventually blew out, and we got what felt like 7 minutes sleep. 

Waking the next morning it was an absolute disaster outside. See those tents in that pic above? Well apart from ours, EVRY SINGLE ONE of them had been ripped from the sand and smashed to bits. The mess-tent, the stores tent, EVRY THING… Not to mention the loos, man, that was BAD… And who did we have to thank for this escape from the clutch of the Haboob? Yup, Lol, the desert vet… Good times!

After a while, a truck load of locals arrived and began to reassemble tents, and clean and fix the loos. It was at this point that I thought I had better check on my buddies from the USMC. So I went to find my Rover. The pic below shows what the MT Park looked like after the storm. Needless to say, I had to strip and assemble the air-intakes and filter, and a number of other items before I dared start the truck!

So, I drove up to the Marines LOC and wow, what did I see..? It was a similar scene of chaos, but unlike in our camp, that had a mix of locals and troops doing the mahi, (Not the loos tho, that was a local only job..!) the Marines were just doing it all THEMSELVES…😳

I’ll never forget seeing two boots in full MOPP gear trying to reassemble a smashed Port-A-John… They were COVERED in blue fun-fluid, and heaven knows what else… I have to admit I was pretty shocked, as up until that point, I had viewed my US-cousins as being the all-singing, all-dancing super-troops, yet here they were, clearing up poo… I spoke with the S2 who basically said they didn’t trust any locals to come in and do anything, so they did it all themselves… Mint…!

So, that was a thing, and I think I have rattled on enough there, so I will save the other event for the next part…!

Modelling, yes, modelling. So, I finished the stowage on Shady Bs PL trucks, just need to add one TOW. And I upskilled LT Fick’s truck to look as it does in the show. Ficks Hummer needed stowage and a Jerry-can rack at the rear. I carefully snipped this from one of the 3D trucks and glued it on, it fitted so well! This really lifted the truck into what I wanted it to be, so happy-happy, joy-joy! 🥳

Trucks from Shady Bs PL with the added GreyStuff stowage courtesy of the mould!

Nate Fick’s truck. Much like the Iceman’s, this is a signature vehicle for the show, so I wanted it be as spot on as I could make it. 

And to close off, TOW… AS you know, I had most of my Hummers 3D printed by T-Boss. Now they are great an’ all but do not come with weapons… I have loads of Fifties, Mk19s etc, but only THREE spare TOW launchers. BF gives you one TOW per Hummer sprue, and I needed like, 16… What to do..? Well, here’s where last weeks episode comes in again…

I mentioned this need to T-Boss, who video called me and took me through some options for making my own moulds and casting the TOW I needed myself. Man is a LEGEND. 🙏 So, all I needed was some ‘Blue Stuff or similar product. Easy right? Contact Mr Bowman, pick some up!

Bowman - Out of Stock. Mini Kiwi Land - Out of Stock. Every Other Model Shop in NZ - Out of Stock…

Mint. 😑 But then guess what? Another friend kicks in. Having asked Bowmen when the next shipment is due in, his reply “Weeks”… He said he had some used Blue Stuff kicking around that he would EXPRESS POST to me and let me use it! Another LEGEND right there… Next day it duly arrived…

Now, this is another whole new avenue of modelling for me, so buckle up princess…!

Watched some YouTube vids to get the general idea, but they all show like 28mm and up recasting, not tiny-teeny 15mm… Anyhoo, I gave it a crack…

First pic shows the ‘bottom’ of the mould, the second is the top. Once the top had set, I had to pry the parts apart, which was real fun… Then filled the indents with Grey Stuff. Now, I have done that and they are setting as we type… So next week you will get to see the results. How’s that for a hook for part 7..?! 😜

I am stating it now: I think I used too much Grey Stuff, I don’t think the moulds are deep enough, and I don’t think the detail will show enough for me. BUT, lets wait and see, I have been known to be wrong on occasion…😂

Right team, thanks as always for reading this far, and as always, if you didn’t, then to quote WoTC, “This may not be the product for you..” 😜

Till the next time Killers, as always, Stay Frosty 🫡

In which I have views about heroic 17pdr crews...

Blogger Pel is taking his British Paras to a Flames comp at GenCon this year so we had a bit of a test game to see how they went. 

We rolled up "Killing Ground" as a mission and I put the objectives as far apart as I could. Pel wasn't really in a position to make use of the flank deployment zones as that would have left the objectives underdefended against my fairly quick armour! One objective was held by a Para platoon and the 6pdrs and the other by a mortar platoon and 2 17pdrs with a second Para platoon and a Carrier platoon in a position to move one way or the other. His Bofors platoon was in ambush - it's a feared weapon against all my FA3! 

I pushed the objective defended by the minefields with my L6s, M14s and a Paracadutisti platoon with Lancia da 90s and Semovente 75/34s providing overwatch. I realised that the Semoventes were basically not going to be much chop as an AT weapon so they settled in to bombard the Brit infantry. I started the game failing to get any successful Elite rolls and failing every 2+ Avanti roll I made bar one in the first two turns!

This next pic was turn 2/3 after Pel sprung the Bofors ambush and, mercifully, only popped a could of L6s and brought on his Churchills from reserve in the right place (chagrin!) 

 

I'd managed to pop one of the 17pdrs with a Semovente bombardment and the second Semovente bombardment kept the mortars pinned, allowing my Paracadutisti platoon to advance largely safely.  The Churchills unsuccessfully engaged the M14s and in the exchange of fire between the remaining 17pdr and the Lancia da 90s the 17pdrs emerged victorious killing one and the other failing it's Last Man Standing test.

Meantime, in hilarious times, Pel's armoured cars arrived in completely the wrong place so decided to see what a 15mm Besa could do to a Semovente. Short answer, not a great deal. The 17pdr passed a Last Man Standing Test.

I set up for the final shove on the objective here - over the next turn I set about clearing a minefield, removing the Carriers with my CO, flamethrowering the Bofors off the board and machinegunning a lot of the Para Platoon. Pel made 11 3+ infantry saves. Out of 11 as I tried to sort them out. In the end, the Semoventes did the heavy lifting, destroying both the mortars and a lot of the Parachute platoon. The second Parachute platoon arrived in the centre of the table and, after killing my CO in assault, set about trying to prove they were better paras than the Italians. The 17pdr passed a Last Man Standing Test.

The photo below is, I think, turn four or five where I decided to ignore the Churchills and break through the little gap between the minefield and the wood and drive onto the objective. Pel made sure my Paras were definitely toast by then but incoming fire on the M14s was lacklustre, killing only one. But the 17pdr passed a Last Man Standing Test.

The game finished up with my last three M14/41s on the objective and Pel's first unit of Paras and his CO wiped out. His response was to bail all three of the M14s (!) with the infernal 17pdr and the Churchills and move up his second para platoon to retake the objective. 

 I had one turn to see if a bombardment from the Semoventes and the last couple of L6 tanks could wipe out that second Para platoon and break the army but no such luck.  I got a few of them, but not enough to do the job.

It was a good match and while I doubted that attacking the objective protected by the mines a couple of times, not having to drive into 6pdrs AND the ambushing Bofors guns seemed like the right choice. Genuinely, I think if that 17pdr had run, it was a whole different game - when there are Churchills on one side, honestly it feels like if you get the big guns out of the way, in this case my Lancia da 90s, it made for more of an uphill struggle. 

Still, I'm happy with the list and will definitely run it again. If I was playing at a round 100 points, it would be slightly different (I'd be running Engineers instead of Paras I think) but the concept is sound.

Next Time

I'll be doing some painting over the next week. Who knows what you'll get! 
 

My Generation Was Killed Part 5 - Friends

 

‘Sup Killers and welcome back to the blog 😎

Friends? What’s this you ask? I thought this was about toy soldiers and something-something War on Terror comments..?!

Stay calm, that will come, this week I was planning on writing something, then as often happens in the creative space, I had a different idea…

Names are not mentioned to protect the innocent…😉

In case you weren’t tracking, my whanau and I moved to Aotearoa New Zealand in 2006. A mere 26,000KM trip from the UK leaving behind all of our friends and family. We landed in Auckland in May 06 and a week later drove to Palmy where we met the first of a line of Kiwis that have gone on to become our very close friends. That person and their whanau have reminded close friends to this day, and I have also been fortunate to pick up other close friends in the military along the way.

But that’s a small circle for sure. I don’t recall if it was 2006 or 7 when I wondered into the Palmy hobby store’Heros for Sale’ (long since closed ☹️) and picked up a blister pack of Battlefront MW German Infantry. I took them home, painted them and based them and didn’t think much of it.

A week later I was in the store again and noticed there was a rule book for this game, ‘Flames of War’. So I picked up a copy and Festung Europa, the army list book. I took them home and read through them and especially loved the pictures of painted minis…

On Monday I took that book to work and was reading it at lunch when one of my JNCOs asked me what I was reading. I showed them and they were also interested… So we decided to try a game. He decided to be the Russians and I obviously went for Ze Germans. We built and painted a 600 point force (oh remember those days of points in 100s not 10s…😉) And used to play at lunchtimes at work. This draw some derisory comments from the OC and CSM, but meh, what (literally) did they know…

That guy also went on to become a solid friend.

We then discovered there was a whole tournament scene in NZ and overseas, and for the next decade I hurled myself into almost every event I could get to, which pretty much meant all of them…

I moved from being a very average painter to winning every ‘Best Painted’ trophy at all NZ events and some overseas ones too in Australia and Canada. I then started to contract paint for Battle Front and have my work in many of their source books from the mid 2010s. I always seemed to get the work that the studio staff didn’t want, Zouaves anyone…?! 😜 Then I started a wee business painting other peoples stuff as well.

All through this process I have been fortunate enough to pick up some solid friends, and I do mean solid. These are the types of people who put you up on a coach or spare bed for events, feed you and expose you to their own families. They are also there when you have health issues, are going through a rough patch, and just need a shoulder to literally cry on 🙏

So where am I going with this and what’s the connection here?? Well, without this silly game, I would not have these amazing people in my life, and pat yourselves on the back team, you know who you are. 🙏💟 I am fortunate that these good people have been there for me, especially during the dark times of my PTSD and depression, which brings us back to reality…

Remember last week I mentioned MOPP suits and CBRN and USMC?? Well I did some digging into boxes and came up with some stuff from back in the day. First up is a still sealed M256 Detector Kit. I was issued this from the USMC as a part of my CBRN detection capability. It was a handy box of tricks that would detect a range of nasties! See pic below:

You can see the plastic case the kit comes in, on the left is an opened detection slide with the various chemical and biological compounds that would be used to detect stuff, and on the right a part of the enclosed instructions.

Next up is a page from my CBRN notebook with 1 and 3 Color detector paper that has had a substance splashed onto them to indicate what they would look like in the event of a real attack. I don’t remember WHAT was splashed onto them, but I don’t think it’s harmful..😷

And finally before I get onto minis (remember those..?!) here’s a hand drawn diagram that was given to me by my USMC counterpart. It’s a schematic of a CBRN decontamination station that we would use in a mass-casualty event. You will see it has clean and dirty areas, areas for walking wounded and those on litters etc. This was my reality in 2003 and it’s interesting to see it over 20 years later. We never needed this (See my upcoming blog ‘WMDs, more Wanton Misuse of Democracy than Weapons of Mass Destruction 😑) as the Iraqi CBRN capability was extremely limited, and AFAIK, not used during the 03 period. But still, this was what I was trained for, had been training for, for years, and was prepared to put into place. Happy days…

RIGHT! Back to the plastic crack! Oh hang on, friends… So, you may recall a week or two ago I stated I was no master sculptor of Green Stuff..? Well, fortunately my very good friend IS. And that very good friend just happened to be the person who sculpted most of BFs stuff, including modern stowage…

SO, I did buy one pack of modern stowage at $17.50, but calculated I would need about $300 worth to make my trucks look how they should. Well… My friend just made me a resin mould of the original sculpts, and now using Grey Stuff I can churn out dozens of bits of stowage for next to no cost!!!

The pic below shows the original BF soft-metal product, the new mould and a host of new moulded stowage parts. Not only are they cheaper than the OG ones, the use of Grey Stuff makes them so much sharper and there is almost zero flashing to boot! Result!

What else have I been up to this week..? More trucks, OF COURSE! Chopped up another three of the 3D Hummers to make more open-top trucks. Started putting some Grey Stuff cam-net rolls on them and added the weapon mounts. The only issue I am going to face is TOW… I need approximately another 12, 15mm TOW launchers, and I have 3… You only get one with each BF sprue and I am not sure if you can 3d print them… I may end up just making a more basic version out of plastic rod etc… Anyway, pic below for added value!

And to finish, I managed to get some paint onto the crews for the Iceman and Shady B’s trucks. Had a lot of fun making the ‘Elvis Sunnies’ for Ray and adding in things like respirator haversacks. I ended up using a mix of AK, Model Air, Atom, and Vallejo colors as below:

• MOPP Suit base - Model Air 71.022 Camo Green
• Desert Helmet Cover base - Val 837 Pale Sand
• MOPP Suit / Desert Helmet Cover light green - Val 886 Green Grey
• MOPP Suit / Desert Helmet Cover brown - Val 871Leather Brown
• Body Armour / Webbing - Model Air 7138 US Sand
• Respirator Haversacks - AK 796 NATO Green
• Shade - BF Skin Shade all over

I used a mid-blue for scope lenses, bino’s, goggle lenses, and Rays Sunnies! Just because I liked it and it stands out! I also gloss varnished Rolling Stone’s helmet as he has no helmet cover and in the early episodes of the show, his lid REALLY stands out!!

Right team, if you have managed to read through all of that, pour yourself a drink! 😂 If this was a ‘TLDR’ moment for you, oh well… 😉 I’ll make no apologies for blog length or content! This is my blog and I’ll say what I like, and I like what I say!! Seriously though, this is a cathartic process for me, so I appreciate your patience if I go off minis for a while and talk through the events that led to this list being created in the first place!

On that note, have a great weekend and Stay Frosty People 🫡

Back baybee!

 Greetings readers, tis I! It's been a few weeks - I've been travelling a bit of late and haven't been home to game or to commit hobby time.

But it's a long weekend here for the Monarch's Birthday so figured it was time to get some catchup work done.

 First off, I finished off the squad of Adeptus Sororitas for my Imperial Agents collection. This gets my Knights army done and dusted and will allow me to also run the Officio Assassinorum detachment that I affectionately call X-Force. It's dreadful but it'll be SO much fun to run.

 I'm only middling about saying I enjoyed painting them because honestly, I don't think I did. Even with the miracle sauce that is contrast white, this was hard yakka. Having said that, I'm really happy with how they've come out and they look great with the two Immolators that they're going to be riding around in with their special friend Inquisitor Greyfax.

Shortly before I went away I spent my ValleyCon award on some new toys for my Late War Germans, partly inspired by blogger Tank's ValleyCon army (which I'm keen to iterate on) and partly for just stupid: 

The Waffenträger are just a solid way of getting some cheap-ish long 88s on the park when I don't feel like the challenge of running Jagdpanthers and what's not to love about the Sturmtiger? It's lunatic but I think it could be a very entertaining addition to some of the more cheap and cheerful

There's also a box of Stukas awaiting my attention but I need to do some thinking about magnetising the weapons...  

Next Time

I'm helping Blogger Pel test the list he's taking to GenCon so will try and do a write up of that. I'm breaking out what I think might be the best Italian build I can come up with so I'll be curious to see if it does the business. I've also got a couple of boxes of Space Marines that are demanding some assembly for getting my Deathwatch up to par in 10th so will be getting onto those shortly.