'Characters/Scene from' KyleC, ClintB, IanW, SimonM - 'Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep?'

So with this years entry figure being a group collaboration, ClintB was kind enough to set up a small group of us to put together a set for Curt!

After batting around a few ideas, it was agreed that a few of us would paint up some Sheep. But what to do with them from there was going to be the question. Should we just base them separately or in mini groups, and then ship them altogether? Or should we do a larger scene?

I was not really in the mood for painting sheep ( cause the rest of the guys were doing a fantastic job on them already ) so offered up putting them all together onto a larger base and make a small diorama out of it!

I had no idea what I was going to really do with them so began to work on a few ideas first.. penciling in some scenes or theories of what could be done.

It was while chatting with Clint about how I had some robots kicking around that the idea of Philip K Dick book "Do androids dream of Electronic sheep?" came in... was more intrigued when I found out it was the inspiration for Blade Runner.. 

So off I went trying to find the most appropriate socket to fit this all on. And in the end I actually used 2! One for the main base there, and the other to help create a ledge/cliff for the robot to sit on. 

I think that the work that ClintB, IanW and SimonM put into the sheep to make this happen was really what pushed the project forward. And I was lucky enough to receive them to put together such a scene. Their faith that I wouldn't botch it all up at the finish line was great to have!

Now final photos are being taken, and the package being boxed up ready for the long trip to the Prairies, Canada to sit at its new home!

'Home' from ClintB: Wherever I Lay my Hat, that's my Home

Home means many different things to many different people. For a soldier in Vietnam for example it might not mean Home back in the "World" That might be really home. So I have created a home in the form of a bunker/fox-hole. Home in this instance means a place to rest when not on patrol beyond the wire of the fire base.THE WIRE marks the boundary of their supposed neighbourhood, and Home means a place thye can relax and feel some safety. It is their temporary "home" not where they live back with family and friends but where they can rest their head in some level of safety. Not proper safety but in country "Safety"!

The Model is 1/72nd scale to fit in with the rest of my Vietnam collection. It could equally be used for any Pacific WW2 game.

It does have a covered area with a slit for a machinegun A place at least dry in the storms and wet season. It Is of course hastily erected and in the next few days sandbags will e placed on the roof to protect from mortars. But for a few days this will suffice. Not perfect by any stretch of imagination but in country not to shabby.



It was a huge amount of fun to paint and drape with foliage and will fit my Vietnam collection very well indeed. As with all my bonus rounds it is done to play its part on the table and not as a static display. Nothing wrong with display pieces at all but I am a wargamer so I will get the most enjoyment playing with this and not looking at it in a glass case.

As a final thought.
Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room. Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America - not on the battlefields of Vietnam. Marshall McLuhan

So I guess it was lost in the homes of civilians.
Just My 5.56mm of input.

'East' from ClintB: Ferdinand

Well not what I was expecting to paint at all. I was supposed to be painting some WW1 German East Africa troops. Clearly this has not happened. As such I have had to reach into my reserve projects bin and paint something different

Ferdinand.

Was the secret weapon for the Battle of Kursk. However it was not fully thought out and there were problems.

In September 1943, all surviving Ferdinands were recalled to be modified based on battle experience gained in the Battle of Kursk. During October and November 1943, 48 of the 50 surviving vehicles were modified by addition of a ball-mounted MG 34 in the hull front for anti-infantry ability, a commander's cupola (modified from the standard StuG III cupola) for improved vision, and the application of Zimmerit paste. The original vehicles had no athing to stop infantry at all...well maybe some bad language from the crew.The frontal armor was thickened and the tracks widened, increasing the weight from 65 to 70 t. The improved vehicles were called Elefant; this became the official name by Hitler's orders of May 1, 1944. Possibly as a stopgap before the Elefant modifications were available for the original Ferdinand vehicles, the rarely seen Krummlauf curved barrel upgrade for the Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle was allegedly meant to allow crews of Ferdinands to defend their vehicle without exposing themselves.Three Bergepanzer Tiger or Bergetiger armoured recovery vehicles were built in Autumn 1943 from Tiger prototypes, and one battle-damaged Ferdinand not suitable for the Elefant modification was converted into a Rammpanzer Tiger or Rammtiger, an experimental breakthrough vehicle.

But this has no MG so is a Ferdinand. Only 98 were ever built and 2 were captured and thus survived the war. One by the Russians at Kursk (Battle of) currently in the Moscow Tank Museum. The other one (an elephant) was captured by the Americans at Anzio in Italy. This one is currently at the Bovington Tank museum on Loan .

The model is a Zvesda 1/100th scale plastic Kit and I bought it for the sum of £2.75 while I d not see myself putting this beast on the table very often It will help bolster my German PBI force which is mostly Infantry based. So one German heavy very rarely is a far more realistic force than many WW2 Players strive for.

'Armour' from ClintB: Rolls Royce Armoured Car

For the BONUS round I have painted a Rolls Royce Armoured Car. A very useful machine being used in several different continents and several different wars.  They were withdrawn from service in 1941 and did se action in the Western Desert of WW2.

Although Black and white this photos does show one being used in the desert using the angular camo I have depicted. Most of the 173 that were sent to the desert were the 1939 pattern which has a different open topped turret and an antitank weapon while this pattern clearly were still used but only mount a Vickers MG. Mind you as the vehicles of the western desert were not over powered compaired with the late war an MG was still a very useful weapon. This is a FRONTLINE 20mm (1/72nd scale) vehicle all cast in resin.

I have painted this in British desert Camouflage of the period.The RAF British roundel was used in the desert on these vehicles to clearly mark them as belonging to British forces. I have seen evidence of Italian and even German use of this vehicle in the western Desert in WW2 as resources and replacement vehicles were not so easy to obtain so making use of captured equipment was reasonably common.


I intend to use the vehicle in WW2 Chain of Command games and should make a few appearances as the vehicle should not cost too many extra points!

I have named the vehicle as well and the commanders wife has her name on the side. I wanted a name of the period that was easy to paint so I settled on "Flo" the short version of Florence. And I hope that offends no one as it was not intended to.

The desert terrain is part of my collection and I hope it will serve as suitable for CoC.
Job done One bonus round complete!

'Nautical' from ClintB - 'Slow boat to the Mekong!'

Well continuing my Vietnam Conflict figures today for the nautical bonus round I have a "Sampan". And nothing to do with Ming the Merciless and Buck rogers despite the title.

The figure is by "Britannia" and 1/72nd scale (that's 20mm to you diehard wargamers.

Mostly cast in Resin but the crewman and the engine are in white metal. There was minimal assembly as the engine and crew were one piece casting as was the resin. So the kind of simple assembly that even I can manage. 

While it is not absolutely vital to Vietnam wargaming it does round out the options and provide "Hogs" "Cobras" and the like an easy target. Ands as wargamers we all like things to shoot at. How knows it may be ferrying supplies or a VIP along the river to where they are needed. 

Additionally I will not be setting my Vietnam conflict in the Delta or on the coast but these vessels are pretty much found on all stretches of water that is deep enough for them.  The Picture at the bottom shows one being used today in real live. So I have taken the colours directly from the photograph just so I can claim some level of authenticity. 

Clearly a traditional and versatile craft used for all manner of activities. From Fishing to transportation of all manner of goods. Some have motors (most these days) but some clearly do not. It just depends on how fast it needs to go!

While the River war and the Brown water Navy is not an aspect of the Vietnam war I intend to focus on it is Pleasing to know that Britannia do make a couple of other vessels for the US forces and a "Plastic Patrol Boat" my well be on my list of things to acquire.  It is just a shame that they have stopped doing the Hovercraft, but if anyone knows where to get one I am all ears!

'Defensive Terrain' from ClintB - 'Tunnels in Vietnam'

Well the bonus round called for defensible terrain. As I wanted to have something I could use, I decided to create two Vietnam tunnel entrances.

I know they are hard to see in the pictures but they are not concealed! That is just the terrain basing for all my Vietnam figures. But I assure you there is a tunnel entrance on each base. As I will not actually be making the tunnels for the wargames figures to crawl around these will only represent the entrances. Players will then have a choice of how they react, maybe call for tunnel rats, maybe pour napalm down the hole or maybe just chuck a grenade. That is up to them.

To the right is a real picture of a tunnel entrance Chu Chi district which is now a tourist attraction. So I selected a picture of a reasonably attractive girl  just to show how small the entrances are/were.  (Come on she is better looking than most hairy arse wargamers!). Clearly she holds the tunnel entrance over her head so these really would be hard to see on the jungle floor.

The US army did create a specialist unit nicknamed "tunnel rats" who were smaller than the average recruit and also I would imagine some what braver! Not a job for me then as the idea of crawling through dark tunnels looking for an enemy is not my idea of a good time.
 The Badge bears the motto "Non Gratum Anus Rodentum" which the google Latin translator makes out to be "Not acceptable alive" and not anything rude about rats! Who Knew seeing the motto? I am sure many people did translate this as something completely different.

So as this is clearly terrain I do not expect to gain any points as such, but they are useful in a Vietnam wargame and that for me is the point.

'Epic Fail' from ClintB - Toes Up

'Nostalgia' from ClintB - Jodie the Belt-Fed Girl

For the nostalgia round I would like to present Jodie the "Belt fed girl" . It is the first figure in the Belt Fed range by Colonel Bill (AKA Stuart) here in the UK.

The figure is a standard 28mm figure but the sculpt is so reminiscent of the nose art particularly on American WW2 bombers flying from Britain to bomb Europe during WW2.

The figures in WW2 did tend to be "Saucy" rather than rude so more suggestive then crude. And this figure really looks like one of the things that would have been painted on the "Nose" of a Bomber. They did also appear on fighters but were more common on bombers.  With luck you will accept this model as nostalgia not because it is my personal nostalgia but that of the airmen who served our nations. Quite often they would be parted by armature artists in the squadron.
Modern Nose art seems to be more politically correct Things like wasps, Lightning bolts or thunder clouds or even shark's mouths and just slogans. These forms of art did exist in the past as nose art Icons but generally one thinks of the pin up girls. The era of female inspired nose art seems to have passed, yet they did look spectacular.