Bits and Bobs

This is sort of a random collection of updates - some recent acquisitions arrived and I've done a little more painting the last two nights.

First the acquisitions:

The Expanded edition of Charles Grant's "Battle" and Lionel Tarr's "Modern Wargaming Rules" edited by John Curry.

I received the Battle book today and I have only read the introduction - although I have read bits of the book as it appeared in Mecanno magazine thanks to the wonders of the Internet - and I am quite happy with my purchase - used copies of the original book go for more and since I'm not looking to collect first editions, the expanded edition  was the way to go for me.

The Tarr book (more of a collected works really) arrived Saturday and I have nearly read all of it. I'd have finished already but I keep going back and poring over what I've already read - so much inspiration to be found here. The price for this volume was on the opposite end of the scale of Battle, but the book is no less valuable. John Curry has done the world a favor with these low cost paperback editions of classic wargaming writing.

On a side note, today I purchased a copy of the reprint of Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit #1. I fear for my sanity, but I have been very curious about this game since I started wargaming (which was just 15-ish years ago, although I can't believe it's been that long)  and the price was right.

Last night, I got more time with my French - the first coat for the backpacks and rifle stocks, and a billionth coat for the helmets:

They almost look like soldiers.

Tonight, I worked on some Chinese Airfix knock-offs (well, 3, one of them is an actual Airfix):

For use with my rules, Morschauser, or the Portable Wargame.

There is touch up and some details, like rifle barrels and gas mask canisters, to finish, not to mention clean up of some sloppy painting. Also of note is the terrible job I did removing flash and mold lines from the knock-offs.

The base color, which has been roughly applied as a proof of concept, is Delta CeramCoat Green Tea. It was an experiment to impart a more toy look to the figures and I'm rather happy with the result. I'll be gloss coating them as well - along with the rest of the Germans and Soviets - which will undoubtedly raise some gasps from parts of the gallery.

My goal is to finish these up and start working on filling out my Soviet force with rifles (I have lots of SMGs). After breaking out the US for the Bloody Omaha campaign I realized my interest with my plastic 54mm collection is far more with playing games set on the Eastern Front of late - in no doubt due to all of the Russian WWII movies and TV shows I've been watching. The Tarr book was a good kick in that direction too.