I've recently added this Hawker Hunter FB Mk6 to the Andreivian air fleet.
It's based on the Mistercraft kit, which is a complete dog. I strongly recommend that you give this manufacturer a miss!
26 May 2024
13 April 2018
CRISIS POINT 2018 - Richard P's AAR's
Links to the four parts of my Crisis Point 2018 AAR
http://atomicrenegade.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/crisis-point-2018-part-one.html
http://atomicrenegade.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/crisis-point-2018-part-two.html
http://atomicrenegade.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/crisis-point-2018-part-three.html
http://atomicrenegade.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/crisis-point-2018-part-four.html
http://atomicrenegade.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/crisis-point-2018-part-one.html
http://atomicrenegade.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/crisis-point-2018-part-two.html
http://atomicrenegade.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/crisis-point-2018-part-three.html
http://atomicrenegade.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/crisis-point-2018-part-four.html
10 April 2018
Memorial to Andreivian Police 1918
For those players who took part in Crisis Point 2018 you may remember on Sunday the massacre of Tom's Andreivian Police at the hands of Mark J's Cossacks. At the time it was commented that I should make a war memorial to mark the occasion and to remember the brave policemen who defended Andreivia's capital against the invading hordes. So as soon as I returned on Sunday night I set to work. It's now finished and will be added to the Tcherbevan layout for subsequent games set it in 1992.
25 February 2018
A Village in Andreivia
Tom D came over on Saturday and I ran a small Arc of Fire scenario to introduce him to the rules in preparation for the Crisis Point game in April.
The scenario was a simple one. It's 1918 and a small Turkish force (four-man HQ, 15-man rifle section, LMG team, and five-man "bomber" team) have to capture an Andreivian village. The village is held by a small Andreivian army team and, unbeknown to the Turks, a temporarily immobilised Renault FT light tank.
The above pic shows the table from the southern (Turkish) edge. A brick-built warehouse dominates this side of the village but it has only two windows on the south side so it's not readily defensible. Tom elected to advance to the right of the road, across the recently harvested wheat field and either side of the small copse of trees.
Pretty soon the Turks came under ineffective rifle fire from the back of the warehouse. The Turks returned fire and were sure they'd achieved some solid hits. In fact the first fusillade wounded the Andreivian forces commander, effectively ending his involvement in the fight. The second round of firing from the Turks killed his second in command outright and the Andreivian HQ unit ceased to exist as a fighting unit!
As the Turks closed in on the village I knew that I'd have to move the only remaining Andreivian infantry unit (a six-man rifle section) from the graveyard to the central square if I was to buy time for the tank driver to repair the engine.
The tank driver was reasonably lucky with his TAC rolls. As the Turks approached the village square they heard an internal combustion engine splutter into life (I was going to say roar into life but come on guys, this is only a Renault FT) and heard the grinding of caterpillar tracks.
The FT managed to get off a shot from its 37mm Puteau cannon. 37mm HE is not very ineffective and the commander (the FT has a two-man crew) was firing while the tank was moving. Even with a densely packed infantry target the shot was ineffective. It would prove to be the tank's only shot of the game!
As the tank commander tried desperately to reload, a firefight developed across the village square. The Andreivian infantry scrambled to take what cover they could but they were severely out-numbered and once the Turkish LMG came around onto their flank, their days were numbered.
It came down to race to see if the Andreivian tank could extricate itself from this unsuitable tactical situation before the Turkish bomber team could get close enough to use their grenades against it.
In the end a single Turkish bomber launched two heroic close assaults on the tank but he was unable to prevent it wheezing and clanking its was off along the northern road towards safety.
So that was Tom's first AoF game. The Turks had sided the village to a win for them. The Andreivians had also met their aim of extracting the tank to safety but the loss of both commander and sergeant in the first few moments of the action took the shine off this achievement.
A fun game. We got done in a leisurely couple of hours and AoF again showed that new players can pick it up within a very short time.
The scenario was a simple one. It's 1918 and a small Turkish force (four-man HQ, 15-man rifle section, LMG team, and five-man "bomber" team) have to capture an Andreivian village. The village is held by a small Andreivian army team and, unbeknown to the Turks, a temporarily immobilised Renault FT light tank.
The above pic shows the table from the southern (Turkish) edge. A brick-built warehouse dominates this side of the village but it has only two windows on the south side so it's not readily defensible. Tom elected to advance to the right of the road, across the recently harvested wheat field and either side of the small copse of trees.
Pretty soon the Turks came under ineffective rifle fire from the back of the warehouse. The Turks returned fire and were sure they'd achieved some solid hits. In fact the first fusillade wounded the Andreivian forces commander, effectively ending his involvement in the fight. The second round of firing from the Turks killed his second in command outright and the Andreivian HQ unit ceased to exist as a fighting unit!
As the Turks closed in on the village I knew that I'd have to move the only remaining Andreivian infantry unit (a six-man rifle section) from the graveyard to the central square if I was to buy time for the tank driver to repair the engine.
The tank driver was reasonably lucky with his TAC rolls. As the Turks approached the village square they heard an internal combustion engine splutter into life (I was going to say roar into life but come on guys, this is only a Renault FT) and heard the grinding of caterpillar tracks.
The FT managed to get off a shot from its 37mm Puteau cannon. 37mm HE is not very ineffective and the commander (the FT has a two-man crew) was firing while the tank was moving. Even with a densely packed infantry target the shot was ineffective. It would prove to be the tank's only shot of the game!
As the tank commander tried desperately to reload, a firefight developed across the village square. The Andreivian infantry scrambled to take what cover they could but they were severely out-numbered and once the Turkish LMG came around onto their flank, their days were numbered.
It came down to race to see if the Andreivian tank could extricate itself from this unsuitable tactical situation before the Turkish bomber team could get close enough to use their grenades against it.
In the end a single Turkish bomber launched two heroic close assaults on the tank but he was unable to prevent it wheezing and clanking its was off along the northern road towards safety.
So that was Tom's first AoF game. The Turks had sided the village to a win for them. The Andreivians had also met their aim of extracting the tank to safety but the loss of both commander and sergeant in the first few moments of the action took the shine off this achievement.
A fun game. We got done in a leisurely couple of hours and AoF again showed that new players can pick it up within a very short time.
23 January 2018
Houses for Downtown Kedelkalak
Using some city walls that Richard Phillips has in production, I plan to add the walled northern city of Kedelkalak to this year's vision of Andreivia. I'll be needing to add some buildings to its streets of course.
Over the weekend I had a dig through the map chest where I keep things that might be useful for terrain one day. Having spent a day recently gluing together and cutting out boardgames components I suppose I was receptive to the idea of having a go at some flat-pack buildings I found therein.
First up is this low-profile shop I got free on the front cover of a model railway magazine I spotted on my weekly supermarket shop:
It's by Metcalfe Models and I have to say it was a joy to put together. It came preprinted and die-stamped in heavy grade cardboard with clear plastic for the windows. The instructions were comprehensive and very clear.
As you can see I added a suitably Andreivian name board in place of the English ones that came in the pack.
I also found some paper buildings I'd printed out years ago and filed away in the can't-be-bothered pile. I made this one first:
As you can see it's actually more like 15mm scale but it may find a place somewhere in the crowded streets of the city. It needs a bit of paint to disguise the white, cut edges.
The next building looks like it came from the same source as the above. I blew it up to 133% of the original size using my scanner.
It's a peculiar little structure; all doors and windows but it will do. Given the adverts on the sides it may see use in France for WW2 games too.
Over the weekend I had a dig through the map chest where I keep things that might be useful for terrain one day. Having spent a day recently gluing together and cutting out boardgames components I suppose I was receptive to the idea of having a go at some flat-pack buildings I found therein.
First up is this low-profile shop I got free on the front cover of a model railway magazine I spotted on my weekly supermarket shop:
It's by Metcalfe Models and I have to say it was a joy to put together. It came preprinted and die-stamped in heavy grade cardboard with clear plastic for the windows. The instructions were comprehensive and very clear.
As you can see I added a suitably Andreivian name board in place of the English ones that came in the pack.
I also found some paper buildings I'd printed out years ago and filed away in the can't-be-bothered pile. I made this one first:
As you can see it's actually more like 15mm scale but it may find a place somewhere in the crowded streets of the city. It needs a bit of paint to disguise the white, cut edges.
The next building looks like it came from the same source as the above. I blew it up to 133% of the original size using my scanner.
It's a peculiar little structure; all doors and windows but it will do. Given the adverts on the sides it may see use in France for WW2 games too.
06 January 2018
Those Damned Cyclists!
The German cyclist jaegers are done at last! Never again will I purchase any cycle-mounted figures from HaT.
They will hopefully provide some strategic mobility to the German forces advancing from their bridgehead south of Tcherbevan.
They will hopefully provide some strategic mobility to the German forces advancing from their bridgehead south of Tcherbevan.
03 December 2017
Wish me luck, I'm going over the top...
Prior to last year's Crisis Point (our first exploring the history of Andreivia at the end of the Great War) I attempted to build a box of HaT soft plastic German cycle troops.
I still bear the emotional scars of the experience. The figures come with separate arms that should in theory connect shoulders to handlebars but in fact are almost impossible for anyone with fewer than three hands to attach securely. In the end, pressed for time to get forces ready for the event, I gave them up as a bad job and returned them to their box.
However, I'm damned if I'll let them beat me again. With a little more time to go at them surely they can't be that bad? Can they?
More reports to come but, please, stay away if easily offended; I suspect bad language may ensue....
I still bear the emotional scars of the experience. The figures come with separate arms that should in theory connect shoulders to handlebars but in fact are almost impossible for anyone with fewer than three hands to attach securely. In the end, pressed for time to get forces ready for the event, I gave them up as a bad job and returned them to their box.
However, I'm damned if I'll let them beat me again. With a little more time to go at them surely they can't be that bad? Can they?
More reports to come but, please, stay away if easily offended; I suspect bad language may ensue....
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