A Hobbit's Second Breakfast

I missed Talk Like a Pirate Day. I didn't forget, I just didn't the time and was not in the mood to talk like a pirate. But, I don't plan to miss today's  The Hobbit Second Breakfast day! Its in honor of the 75th anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. The website even has suggestions for the menu. At 11 am, I think I will grab an extra english muffin and toast (ha!) the wonder that is Tolkien's fantasy world!

!st Armored Division: 1st Royal Guard Dragoons

Like the Royal Guard Cuirassiers of the 1st Armored Division, the Royal Guard Dragoons are the best of the best, and get the best of the best as far as weapons go. After many evaluations including all-expense paid trips to various global arms fairs and weapons contractors by the top brass and defense ministers, it came down to the AIFV a.k.a the YPR 765, versus the Italian VCC 80, better known as the Dardo IFV. It was a tough choice, but the Dardo won out for several reasons. First, it has a higher power/weight ratio.  Lots of soft ground on the mini-continent of Gambusia, so that is an advantage. Second, although both have a 25mm gun, the Dardo can be upgraded with two TOW ATGMs mounted on either side of the turret (Dardo HITFIST). The AIFV ATGM is a separate, purpose-built TOW launcher (known as the YPR 765 prat) that lacks the gun turret. It is very similar to the US M901 ITV. Southern brass decided to have have the added firepower of both the 25mm gun and the ATGMs in one vehicle. The Southern Chalupastan Army has only recently embraced ATGMs, so they were reluctant to spend money on a purpose-built ATGM AFV. Third, the Dardo has a purpose-built mortar carrier. The YPR 765 has a version that only tows a mortar. Although Northern Chalupistan is a long-standarding threat to the South, all of the current combat operations to this point have been against rebels in the Central Highlands province. Mortars are used in close support of infantry rather than as long range artillery, so its better that the mortar and its crew be protected, and have the ability to quickly scoot if things got rough.

In miniature terms, only Heroics & Ros makes the Dardo. Several companies make the AIFV. Unfortunately, H&R makes only the the basic model. Here are the Royal Guard Dragoons on parade:

 It was easy to make the HITFIST version. Taking styrene square rods (square rods...is that possible?), I cut out the box-like TOW launchers of the appropriate length, and then glued them to the sides of the turret.

It was hard to get the TOW launchers perfectly lined up, but they don't look too bad from a distance.

The mortar carrier version of the Dardo is more of a problem. First, I have yet to find a good picture of one, let alone any sort of diagram to work from. Second, I am not sure how to even begin grinding away at a metal figure to get a square bathtub to hold the mortar. With my luck, it would look like a mess. I don't even know if its square; it could be round. So, I cheated and got some Argentine VCTP(M) mortar carriers from Scotia-Grendel as stand ins. Other than being tracked, they don't look anything like a Dardo, but they will do.

Big Ugly Dude

As I mentioned in a post in early August, I went back to Chicago to visit family and to pick up a bunch of things. Along with my collection of board games, I brought back some figurines that I had painted, including this guy:

I can remember everything about him except who made him. I got him out of a bargain bin at a Little Wars convention. He was in among a number of other 25mm fantasy figures, including some Empire of the Petal Throne guys. He is clearly a step up, painting-wise from my Fellowship of the Rings beginnings. He was also done at the time when I switched from enamels to acrylics.

Unpainted Figure Cries Out in Anguish

15mm Orc stoically awaits painting while Loctite superglue looks on in sympathy

Does This Ever Happen to You?

The above title sounds like the beginning voice over for an ad for some sort of Made for TV product, but its fitting for my brief rant. Recently, I took advantage of GHQ's latest special deal that they offer. You buy $50 or more of figurines and you get 15% off. There were a few things that I really wanted to get. They've been coming out with a number of South African AFVs that I really like. There wasn't enough to make the $50, so I added a few other things to the order. To make a long story, short, when my order came I discovered that I already had some of the items from previous orders!  They aren't figurines that I need in large abundance, either.

As I rifled through my storage boxes looking to see if there were any more duplicates, another thing I discovered was that there were pieces of microarmor that I either couldn't identify what they were, and/or couldn't identify the manufacturer that made them. I've never been known as Mr. Organization, but I've always been pretty good at remembering what something was. I guess my memory is going. 

So, I decided to make an inventory of all my figurines. It doesn't matter what stage of production they are in: unpainted, painted, based, etc. I'm going to start with the microarmor and then move to other collections. Good thing there are spread sheets. I am also going to aggressively label my boxes. I have in the past, and most or my WWII stuff is labeled, but I have not gotten around to labeling a lot of the modern stuff. I am not sure how long this is going to take, but its like periodically cleaning your workbench. You don't really want to to do it, but it needs to be done.

1st Armored Division: Royal Guard Cuirassiers

Whereas I have been putting up posts of buildings and such for my Gambusian campaign, I have not posted any new pictures of the combatants involved in quite awhile. I am going to try to post more pictures of the various microarmor I have painted up and are awaiting battle. I will post them as units when possible.

First up is Southern Chalupastan's 1st Royal Guard Cuirassiers battalion. There isn't a 2nd Royal Guard Cuirassiers, however, its good to number your battalions. They belong to the 1st Armored division. The 1st Armored Division is Chalupastan’s elite fighting unit. The most modern weapons and equipment are given to this division. Recruits are picked from only the most loyal Chalupastani subjects. As a way to maintain a high espree des corps, some of the battalions formally go by older cavalry regiment names.

The1st Royal Guard Cuirassiers is armed with the Brazilian EE-T2 Osorio tank. A brief history for a tank with a brief history can be found here: Wikipedia. Sadly, no one ever bought it, not even the Brazilian Army. Even though it never went much beyond the prototype stage, it lives on in the arsenals of Southern Chalupastan. The real reason is because Scotia Grendel sells them, and I thought, "these are cool." I bought a bunch without knowing that there isn't a whole lot of stats that can be gleaned out there concerning them particularly relating to their armor. But, they are different, and different is good. The back story is that Southern Chalupastan has always had a good relationship with Brazil, and have purchased a number of arms from them. They needed a MBT upgrade from their M-48s. The Osorio seems to have a good punch with its French GIAT G1 120-mm smoothbore gun and more modern composite armor than the older tanks. When it comes time to use them, I will have to make up their armor stats.

The 1st Royal Guard Cuirassiers lined up for inspection

For all my AFVs, those with radio antennae and/or tank commanders are considered HQ tanks. Here are some close ups of the HQ Osorios:

"Look Bob, there's something on the road! Shoot it!"

"Its quiet out there...too quiet."

15mm Sci-Fi Small Dwelling

I slapped together a small dwelling for my sci-fi adventures in Yogurt Town.

I used the container from a Kraft Foods Lunchable. It is made from styrene, so plastic modelling glue works well on it. One lunchable will give about three separate containers once you cut them out. The door was cast from Durham's Water Putty and featured in a  previous post. The air conditioning unit, or whatever it is on the roof is a juice bottle lid. I made the poorly-squared window by cutting out the frame from sheet styrene and then inserting a piece of plastic embroidery mesh for the bars of the window. I couldn't decide what to paint the dwelling, so I just did it in grey. I have not decided on whether or not to base it. One thing about the lunchable container is that its walls are very thin. It is easy to move around on the gaming table, and anything you glue on it may pop off if the walls are flexed. So before I started on the outside, I filled the container with Durham's Water Putty. It took a few days because I did it in layers. To reduce the amount of putty I needed, I waded up some aluminum foil into a ball and stuck it in before filling it up with the putty. When dried, the walls no longer flexed and it is heavy enough to stay put on the gaming table.