8th Army Universal Carrier

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'Drive me closer, so I can shoot them with my Webly!'

In addition to being a command vehicle, this is also an ammo carrier for the armored platoon.

At the used book store in TN.

We recently spent a few days in Tennessee and while at the Airbnb, I did a bit of painting in the evenings. I lost the decal sheet for this model, so there are no markings. That said, I thought it came out well for having both a limited number of paints and less than ideal lighting. 

Still lacking a good hobby supply store in SC, I stocked up on some new goodies when visiting my old FLGS: HobbytownUSA.

My general state of things.

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Long time, no posts. I am still alive and am posting regularly on my Battletech blog as I am playing that more or less exclusively. That, said, I have been pondering playing something else. My buddy Nick 2.0 wants to try out Down Range at some point which was developed by and for the United State Marine Corps of all things (yes really, read about it here). 

This small bunch is more likely to simply scratch an itch and find itself a spot in my display case than anything else. 

Beaverbug Mk III, used almost exclusively by the British Homeguard, it is as fearsome as it looks. 

Sporting both print lines and markings for my Quar's Eleventy First regiment.

Being a mediocre 3D print, I rated it on eBay equal to what I got: three good wheels out of four. The defective one isn't real noticable, but also ought not have been shipped in my opinion.

With my pre-existing Universal carrier, they form a minimum armored (and I use that term loosely) platoon. 

I have been pondering Bolt Action again, the game that I buy, paint a few minis for, and then sell without ever playing on a seemingly regular basis. That said, I would prefer to play it using my Quar which would clock in at about 600ish points. When I mention this idea to the guys at the shop, I always get the same reply: 'You can just borrow an army if you want to play.'

...sigh...

40K for me is on a permanent hiatus at this point. The prices are down right comical. The FLGS hosts regular games, and almost bi-weekly touraments. The preferred point value for both is 2K. Recently they had a 'teaching tourney' to help players learn to play better/more competively, with winning being a secondary objective. 

That sounded appealing except it was a 2K point limit. How many new players already have 2K point armies? My Tau are in the 600-700 point range, and drop a few points every time the balance dataslate is released it seems. The Orks clock in at maybe a 1K-ish, I honestly have no idea at this point. The Iggies are maybe 1K assuming I ever build my two remaining tanks. Lastly, my smurfs are the largest army, yet still fall short of the 2K requirement as they total up at about 1500 points or so. 

So I passed on that. 

I recently ordered some new helms for a squad's worth of unpainted iggies to syphon off for Trench Crusade. Additionally, i purchased a mechanized heavy infantry model for New Antioch to finally give that game a try. It seems to have a decent following locally with a few of the battletech guys playing it. 

I am also seriously pondering selling off my Star Wars Legion minis (again). I am sure it is a fine game, I love the universe and the minis, but it's player base leaves a lot to be desired. My last game seemed fine at the time, but the more I thought about it, the more annoyed I became. 

I've hosted plenty of 'teaching games' for new players over the years, mainly 40K. For a teaching game, as I know the rules by heart and my opponent barely knows what he/she is fielding, I would field a mediocre list that will put up a good fight and is more than capable of winning said game. That said it will do so less efficiently, with higher casualties and if I lose, the new player won't feel like I let them win. Whereas if they lose, it'll be close enough that they felt as though they could have won and thus will want to play again. Not to mention their units would have lasted long enough to give a feel for what they can do, in addition to giving the new player an at least halfway decent grasp of the game. 

RJ knew going into our game that I had only played once and only had a vague grasp of the rules. With that foreknowledge he brought his Anakin Skywalker, special build, almost all Arc Trooper special forces list. We both knew his would slaughter my force before any dice were even rolled. 

Traditionally, we have always referred to this as 'clubbing baby seals'. Needless to say, if you are the baby seal, then it really sucks to be you. RJ seems perplexed by my lack of desire to play again. 

Curious indeed that is...

I never played Legion in Tennessee after watching the local guy who would 'teach' all of the new players in much the same fashion, and when they were justifiably pissed afterwards would say (quote) Well that's just the meta. He came close to getting punched a time or two. Oddly, the player base for Legion didn't seem to expand beyond what it already was.

Back in South Carolina...

I told the FLGS owner that I was on the fence for Legion aways back. When he asked why, I explained my views on teaching games vs my game with RJ in much the same detail as above and he grimaced. He wanted to argue my point, but admitted that he had nothing to offer as a counterpoint. His experiences learning SWL were much the same as mine, though being the FLGS owner who wanted to sell minis, he just quietly put up with losing consistantly. 

I have no such incentive.

*****

So for the TL;DR folks who skipped to the end (and who can blame you given the above wall of text):

Down Range probably.

Bolt Action maybe, Bolt Action with Quar not likely. 

40K, no. 

Trench Crusade, possibly.

Star Wars Legion likely going bye bye. 

Battletech all the time!

What the hell?!?

Ammo explosion?

So, I was loading up my Bolt Action Americans that I simply cannot get interested in, to deliver to a buddy of mine who is aware of my apathetic view of the game and out of the blue offered to buy them last week. When, I opened my miniature display case, picked up my Chaffee and...the tracks were sitting in a puddle of goo. 

Can't blame the Germans when the tank has yet to see battle...

After posting pics on my FLGS' discord along with the requisite WTF?!? It seems that the uncured resin in the cavities inside the turret released gases and not only leaked resin goo down thru the hull, but also popped apart the turret's top. 

This much lubrication is not required...

Needless to say, after a future sojourn out in the sun to cure the innards, this tank will likely serve as terrain only. I bought this in September of 2022, painted it in November 2024, and last touched it in January of this year, meaning this happened sometime since then. 

Oh and by the way Neverness, if the urge ever strikes me to take up Bolt Action again, there's always my beloved Quar...

Is this the Ardennes? Or the Low Country?

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Well, like everywhere else in the American Southeast, we got a snow yesterday! From what I've been told, it has been 7 years since the last time it has snowed in Charleston. While the city itself is all but shut down, I work remotely and thus it was just another Wednesday. 

Still looks like paradise, just a cold one.

Nonetheless, I joined all of the other local geeks in taking pics of their toys out in the snow because why not? I mean, its not like I've never done the same in Tennessee right? So here ya go:

Patrolling the mulch bed next to my house. 

Followed by a sweep and clear of the neighbor's frigid flower beds.

There were some tight spots so had to call in the troops.

BAR gunner in the brush!

Even with the brown coats they blend decently. 

Looks like we're in the clear boys, that's a Victory for Uncle Sam!

Looking forward to New Years going out with a...bazooka?

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I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas holiday (or at least those of you who celebrate it). We don't get Frankie back from his Dad until Saturday which is when we will be celebrating our Christmas. As such, yesterday and the day before were just odd, mid week days off for me. Nevertheless, I am sure that Neverness, as well as all of the other US Postal, Amazon, FEDEX, UPS & retail workers are thrilled to know that the hell of the holiday season has largely subsided for another year and will substantially be winding down in the next week or so.   

All that's left at this point is New Year's Eve which for us means that after drinking a bottle of my wife's favorite Veuve Clicquot champagne we'll be making 12:30-1am-ish, breakfast sandwiches while we're heavily buzzed. Frankie has never experienced this before so that ought to be a hoot. 

Finally! That Bazooka team that you came here looking for...

On the gaming front...

Originally, I would have already played a game of Bolt Action 3.0 by this point, but scheduling conflicts, and then the holidays, has meant that my first game of 3.0 won't happen till sometime in January. My opponent's army is fully painted, whereas mine will be only at least a third painted. But it is (slowly) getting there...

That's it, we're outta here!

2024 has been a roller coaster for us but we're hoping for a better 2025. Hopefully it will be for all of you as well!

Bolt Action US Winter infantry squad

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. 

Last week when at the FLGS, I picked up the new plastic US winter infantry platoon boxed set for Bolt Action. I put them together, primed them OD green, and was promptly told by Frankie that I could've gotten a bag of green army guys at the Dollar General for a lot less. 

It was kinda hard to argue that point. 

The squad's BAR gunner and a Grunt. I brushed the tops of the tufts with PVA glue (as well as the base) before dipping the mini in the snow flock. I then added a bit of green flock to break up the solid white of the rest of the bases.

Four rifle grunts, from various sides to show all of their kit. 

The NCO with a Thompson SMG, and a grunt taking a sip from his canteen.

 Now that I have a platoon of 30 guys, I figured I'd start out by painting the biggest squad which you can see above. With eight models painted, I'm almost a third of the way thru the platoon already! I wanted it to look at the though snowflakes were sticking to their woolen coats, and so I dry-brushed these with white which came out pretty good I think. 

The painted portion of my force thus far. 

All told, my army actually clocks in at 850 points. One of the guys on the FLGS's discord said to give him a month or so to work on his Germans and then maybe we can start stumbling thru some games. So with luck there might be a battle report on here before the year is out.

Winter is coming...

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Stay frosty...

Well, not here in South Carolina. Despite being November now, the air condition is still running and I haven't stopped wearing shorts every day. So winter is coming somewhere else. But hey, why not make a winter themed army? Our son Frankie has already noted the irony of moving south and painting a wintery themed tank.

Take note of the pinup art on the turret side, its pretty much indecipherable on the finished tank.

I just bought another one of these from the same seller to ensure the same print quality and scale. 

I bought this on a whim way back when I was still working on my former Sikh army. It has survived the purging of that force when it failed to generate any momentum in the game locally. Long before I had even started the Sikhs, Bolt Action had died a quiet death in our end of east Tennessee. However, after buying the rulebook here recently, there seems to be some local interest in starting up some Bolt Action.

Pinup? What Pinup?

The problem with 3D prints is I'm now going to have buy some white star decals.

($6 on eBay, done!)

The FLGS' owner was told by the rep for Warlord games that his store is the only game shop within hundreds of miles stocking their minis. So uh yeah, we're an isolated bunch. How gamer like. I posted the finished pics in the local discord and immediately received several compliments as well as my buddy Nick 2.0 mulling starting an army now. This evening when I go to play some Battletech, I'm planning on picking up a platoon of the new plastic winter American infantry. Those along with the 2 Chaffees will give me a 750 point force to get started with. 

Trick or Treat!

I'll leave it up to you to decide just which this post is...

This distraction is the real culprit. 

Long time no post (well, on this blog anyways). The Buffet Assault Group however has been going strong in this blog's absence. Especially as Battletech is the only game I've been playing and painting minis for here of late. Nonetheless, hope for this blog may be on the horizon...

You find all sorts of forgotten purchases when you have to move your collection from one house to another.

First up, I finished reading thru the Bolt Action 3rd ed. rulebook, and have watched a few battle reports online. I recently got some OD green spray paint and primed the 3D printed Chaffee light tank above. Currently, this is the entirety of my Bolt Action 'army'.

The base is primed as well. 

I also recently primed my Star Wars Legion Dewback rider. I'm hoping this won't be too hard to paint. Indeed it looks to be more of an inking and dry brushing dream. I also recently acquired a pair of used and (decently) paint Imperial scout speeder bikes (plus another R4 droid just because).

Good enough for now, these may be touched up at some point in the future. 

Leaving the Occupier tank out, these bring me up to a mostly painted 500 point skirmish force. The FLGS has learn to play nights almost weekly, so I'll have to make it to one of those I guess to try and figure Legion out for myself. 

So that's all I have for now. It's not much but it is what it is, I'll see you all in November (at some point).

Continuing a Love/Hate relationship...

 o/

I haven't even cracked open the book yet.

I bought this on a whim as the FLGS had it discounted. I also got the free mini that came with it, that of Medal of Honor recipient Francis S. Currey. I may pick up the new and finally in plastic winter US infantry, or give the Quar another shot at Weird War II. I still have a handful of metal Quar including a universal carrier, as well of my newer plastic Royalist minis that I haven't done anything with. I mentioned this idea to a few folks at the FLGS and the idea was pretty well received. 

We shall see I guess...

Thankfully September has come to an end...

 o/

Loren succumbs to the lure of Chaos...

Yeah, September wasn't a good month for me. It started out alright, however at about the week following my last post a coworker who thought he 'just had a cold' instead gave me covid. Which I in turn gave to my fiancé, who inadvertently gave it to her best (in the pic above), and its a 50/50 as to which of us then gave it to my stepson Frankie. 

We've all since recovered, but there was a lot of suck in those last two weeks (and that's just on the covid front, I'll spare you the rest). 

Doesn't even look like a repaint, just don't look at the other side of that gun shield!

The Drakes were strong with this one as it took multiple attempts (and decals) in order to get that icon to properly affix to his pauldron!

Another view from the business end. They're not in any of the pictures, but two more assault intercessors are also in-progress

Like my first time with the 'rona, once I started to feel better I started to paint minis during my enforced quarantine (unlike the last time, the quarantine wasn't 10 days, and I no longer live alone meaning I didn't paint 10+ minis this go round). 

First up I partially repainted the Firestrike Servo-Turret since the rest of my painted Silver Drakes have redeployed to the Connecticut subsector. The lack of availability in acquiring the needed metallic blue paint led to that army's demise. Given that the vast majority were unpainted, my Smurf army just got a BIG boost in numbers!

This is probably the equivalent of a Renault FT.

With the Quar equivalent of General Patton riding in the turret.

Space marine belt pouches for stowage.

The Servo turret added to the background for scale.

On a whim, I also painted up my 15mm Quar tank. I was so enamored with it that I then went on the zombiesmith website and ordered another one (different type) along with some other cool little vehicles. I'm thinking that I'll introduce Frankie to Bolt Action's rule set using the 15mm Quar in my caves terrain.  

Moving onto October...

...and it's DREADtober! My paltry entry into this year's event is my Day'lth Tau's Sub Commander Firestorm. Firestorm has thus far led my Tau infantry horde to a string of costly defeats. No doubt these were if fact diversionary assaults, drawing forces away from the actual invasions rendering said defeats into victories For the Greater Good! 

Coming to a close combat near you!

I've outfitted him/her with 3D printed, twin-airbursting fragmentation launchers (mortars) a shield generator and a prototype Thermoneutronic Projector. I thought the frag launchers looked cool and opted for them before I realized that mortars were the meta (ooh how I hate that term) weapon of choice. 

However, both pre- and post- mortar nerf, they've accomplished little. Most likely because this guy has a penchant for suicide charges into close combat where that projector is pretty much cheese on a stick! Suck it Farsight! 

No idea whose Rhino door it will be that Firestorm is striding over.

Whilst less than effective versus Neverness whose Termies all choose to hide behind the one guy with a storm shield when making armor saves, yet not when making their attacks (speaking of cheesy), Firestorm has sent a fair few of Rob's plague marines to their unexpected deaths! 

I doubt a proper paint job will improve his/her leadership capabilities, however it's high time this mini was painted since it leads and army that has 40-50ish painted models already, and is by far my most painted of armies. 

Sikh & Destroy (Part 2)

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The guy kneeling in back will actually be the loader for my already painted LMG gunner.

Coming on the heels of assembling the last of my 30k Blood Angel infantry (still have a Kratos to go), I've been assembling my Sikhs for Bolt Action this week. I've had a hankering to go mucking about with Bolt Action again, and the first step in that process is build some semblance of an army. A little one anyways. 

The 2nd Infantry squad's LMG team.

Sergeants with SMGs. If I ever play any early war games, these guys will simply be omitted. 

My little collection, both those painted and still on the sprue total out to about 500pts for early war, or else 650ish for late war (and only because I recently picked up a 3D printed Chaffee). Whilst I would prefer early war, Screech (my most likely opponent) insists on only playing late war, otherwise known as the part of WWII where his Germans lost all of their battles, their country, and indeed the war.

PIAT team using the PIAT launcher from a Rubicon vehicle stowage kit. It worked out alright, I think.

To each their own, I guess. I'm sure it has more to do with the late war German super (unreliable) tanks which will make mincemeat out of my Chaffee, but whatever. I can always team up with Neverness who also has British troops. Between the three of us, we might even have a vague idea of how to play the game...maybe. Of course there's always Bob who actually knows how to play, but where's the fun in that? lol.

Chaffee is one of my favorite tanks, even though it only arrived at the very tail end of the war. 

This one came primed black; however, I'll reprime it OD green now that I've added the stowage to it. 

Anyways, below is all that I've put together here this week. I have another 15-20 or so infantry to go, then will set about painting them.

They'll be a bit daunting to start painting once the rest are all assembled!