Quick Update on Modern 6mm and 20mm Stuff

[Just Jack]

All,

No time for gaming last weekend, but I did get some stuff processed and get some painting done, and here is the visual record of the goings on. First up, I’ve commented quite a few times about how I’m beginning to feel like a Third-World Dictator (due to my recent megalomania in 6mm). I also commented around the yard that 1) I was contemplating a major purchase, and then 2) I made said purchase, and all I can say is now I definitely qualify as a dictator, only waiting on a suitable nation state to allow me demonstrate my special brand of dominating benevolence. So I decided I’d document the whole thing in pictures.

The whole mess, modern 6mm, all GHQ and CinC. If you’re not familiar, I have a whole bunch of Warsaw Pact, which I’ve broken into ‘green’ and ‘khaki’ forces, then I have NATO forces, I don’t have an exact count, but it’s something along the lines of:
Warsaw Pact MBT: ~240
Warsaw Pact AFV: ~230
Warsaw Pact Arty: ~36
Warsaw Pact Air Defense: ~25
Warsaw Pact Recon: ~30
Warsaw Pact Engineers: ~30
NATO MBT: ~120
NATO AFV: ~115
NATO Arty: ~10
NATO Air Defense: ~12
NATO Recon: ~25
NATO Engineers: ~12
Various other crap, trucks, ammo carriers, jeeps, etc…

I also have a number of aircraft:
-CH-47
-2 x UH-1 Hog
-2 x OH-6
-2 x AH-1 (but they’re pretty jacked up and I’m not sure if I can salvage either of them)
-3 x AH-64 (again, pretty jacked up, maybe can get one out of them)
-1 x A-10
-2 x F-18
-2 x A6
-1 x EA6B
-2 x MiG-23/27
-4 x Mi24D
-1 x Mi24A
-4 x Allouette

I figured it at about $3k in raw lead; I bought about 85% of it second-hand, so I’ve spent about $900 on all of it. I’m going to have to get really creative with rules and basing, as I’m realizing I actually have too much 😉 No seriously, I’m looking at multi-basing my stuff, i.e., putting three tanks on a base for armor, and three AFVs and some infantry on a base for mechanized infantry. Even then I don’t know if I can get all this stuff on the table.

What really makes me mad is that I have a tremendous amount of infantry already painted and based on pennies, and that’s not how I’ll be playing with these, so I’m not sure what to do with them. I really don’t want to pull them off the pennies and stick them on new bases, and I don’t really want to sell them off. We’ll see what happens.

And then my other project: I’m still slowly plugging away on my modern 20mm stuff that I got from Elhiem. Fantastic miniatures that paint up pretty easily. I finished off (minus basing, which I’ve yet to give serious consideration to) a team of four US modern shooters, and a squad of seven Russian/Eastern European troops.

All the guys I finished, US Direct Action-types at top, two sticks of Russian troops at bottom.

Now that I’ve got enough of these guys painted up to actually have a small skirmish fight, I need to think about 1) basing (maybe put them on quarters?), and 2) terrain, so they have something to hang out on that looks more appropriate than the kitchen counter…

If you’d like to see a bit more commentary and a whole lot more pictures, please visit the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2015/01/quick-update-on-modern-6mm-and-20mm.html

In any case, I’ve got a three-day weekend, so I’ll look to put in some serious mileage on my Poland campaign. Stay tuned folks, there’s always something going on here 😉

V/R,
Jack

[Count Belisarius]

That looks an impressive haul. I must sort mine out at some point as well! 🙂

 

For the penny mounted infantry, have you thought of getting sabots made up? Drop a couple into a 40x20m base? If you use thin card or even 1mm MDF for the base of the sabot then the depth won’t be too bad?

A

 

My Blog: Another Slight Diversion

[Just Jack]

“A”, AKA, Count Belisarius,

I went to the Warbases website and was about to send them a query, along the lines of “can I get regiment-style movement trays that hold pennies, either 4, 5, or 6 per, 2mm MDF as close to 60mm x 40mm,” when I realized it’s not going to work. See, the plan is to base the infantry with their vehicles, and if I put them on a 60 x 40 base on pennies I don’t think I’m going to get 3 AFVs on there as well, but I can get vehicles and infantry on a 60 x 40 if the infantry aren’t on bases.

I suppose I could get a few for those not requiring vehicles, i.e., straight ‘leg’ infantry, airmobile, and paratroops.

Thanks for suggestion though.

V/R,
Jack

[Count Belisarius]

I think on a 60×40 you could probably drop a few infantry bases in alongside some vehicles but not sure how it would look. I think if I was going to put vehicles and infantry on a single I’d want the infantry ‘in the right place’ relative to their vehicles and that might be hard if already on pennies. For me, I like my bases to be little dioramas.

That was a good haul you got there. I got my modern stuff in a similar way. Was asked to sell off someone’s collection and there was a LOT of Soviet, Belgian and West Germans. So I got them at a bargain price, partly as payment for selling off the rest of the collection! Needless to say, despite how many there were I still bought a LOT more to add to them. And depressingly I’ve only ever had three games with them in five years!

Good luck with yours!

Andy

 

My Blog: Another Slight Diversion

[Just Jack]

Andy,

“I think if I was going to put vehicles and infantry on a single I’d want the infantry ‘in the right place’ relative to their vehicles and that might be hard if already on pennies.”
Yes, this is exactly the problem.  I suppose I can keep the ‘penny-infantry’ for something else (not sure what yet), or sell them off.

S0, lots of 6mm but not lots of games with them?  Sounds like we’re on similar career paths 😉  I don’t know when/if I’ll ever get it done…  I need to hurry up though, these are for Ivan’s upcoming “Brigade Commander.”

V/R,
Jack

[Rod Robertson]

Just Jack:

Cool! So what will the first 6 mm action be? A German intervention into Poland by Task Force Klink – led by the grandson of the famous commander of KG Klink?

Cheers and good gaming.

Rod Robertson

[Just Jack]

Rod,

I have no idea when the first action will be; I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever get the 6mm stuff into fighting shape.  And I like your idea, but that’s what I was working on with the French Legionnaires in Estonia following the break-up of the Soviet Union: the “Sirellists” (side that wants to return to Soviet-style rule) and a confederation of Baltic States who oppose such rule.  They are all former Warsaw Pact nations, and NATO throws in military assistance prior to the major fault lines forming (my FFL stuff is just the preamble to the big split), which is how I get WarPac and NATO gear on both sides of the fight.

V/R,
Jack

[Spurious]

Just Jack wrote:

Warsaw Pact MBT: ~240

Hmm… not sure if this is enough. Might need a few more

[Just Jack]

Spurious,

The sad thing is that I’m sure I’ll end up buying more it’s a sickness.  That’s about 80 3-tank stands; Ivan’s gonna have to come up with some rules for really, really big games! 😉

I need to hurry and get these done up so I can get into some modern Brigade Commander, which is still in development/playtesting.  It’s set for one base=1 company, but with all these tanks I think I’ll play 1 base=1 unit, and have each unit a battalion of three or four actual bases, but acting only as a unit, not independently, so I can get lots of stuff on the table.  The rules can deal with about 12 units max, so I’d have around 36 stands on the table (have to go back to playing on my 6′ x 4′ table I guess).  Sounds cool, right?

V/R,
Jack

[Spurious]

Just Jack wrote:

It’s set for one base=1 company, but with all these tanks I think I’ll play 1 base=1 unit, and have each unit a battalion of three or four actual bases,

I dunno, what you have in model count is enough for two complete soviet tank regiments at 1:1 and then some. I think you should go crazy and play 1 base of 3 = 1 platoon at most.

[Just Jack]

I suppose I could, but 1) I don’t like messing about with all the stuff that goes with 1:1 (HQ tanks, recovery vehicles, etc…), and 2) I want to be a General, or a Field Marshall, or something like that! 😉

Though much work remains to be done before anything like that can happen…

V/R,
Jack

[Author]

Posts