Wednesday 25 January 2017

Turrets and a Tank destroyer

More progress. :)


A variety of turrets for the hull I made yesterday.


A tank destroyer.  It needs some Green Stuff to fill the gaps.

And my moulding rubber arrived today. :)


Tuesday 24 January 2017

Another Sci-Fi Tank

I'm in the middle of a busy couple of weeks in my day to day life, so I've not had much hobby time.  Plus I'm waiting for my rubber to arrive so I can start assembling and painting the models, which is sooooo frustrating.

Anyway, I stole some time and I've been working on another tank. :)




The turret still has a long way to go, that should end up being a Gatling gun on it and there'll be a hatch and some other details added.  I might also make a turret with a proper main gun too, for a bit of variety.


Thursday 19 January 2017

Tanks on the Production Line

Work continues on my Sci-Fi vehicles.


Casting the tracks went well. :)


My first turret, this is now having a mould made of it.


And the first hull.


Another view of the same.


How it looks with the tracks on. :)

Wednesday 18 January 2017

Making Tracks

I have a new project in mind, for which I need a variety of tracks.  Having found a sheet of plasticard in the back of a cupboard I decided to try making some and casting them to use on vehicles,

Here's a step by step guide to how I made them.



First I glued some spare model tires I had onto the plasticard.


I cut them out then filled them with Green Stuff and added a little detail to them.


I then cut out the track pieces and placed them round the wheels to make sure I had enough, with a few spares just in case I needed them.


The outer edges of some track pieces were cut at a slope.  They all need this done, but doing a few at a time then glueing them on and doing a few more works best to allow the glue more time to dry I think.


Each track piece is glued to the wheel section and to the adjacent track pieces.


This is repeated all the way round.


And here's the first three completed tracks, ready for me to make a mould from them.  

Monday 16 January 2017

Testing the Rules

A first game to test the rules. :)


To the left are the defending forces.  Infantry in A2, B2 and D4, ATGM infanty in C2 and F4, a Bunny APC in E2, a Woodpecker SPAA in C1 and finally a Thumper SPA in B1.  They also have 3 Moggy IIs arriving on turn 6.

To the right, off map at the start, a company of QT74  MBTs, a company of Bumpy IFVs with infantry loaded and a Kyuteyusha SPA.  One airstrike is also available.


The first two activations for the attackers see them bring all their units on board.  The tanks take up position to fire in support of the Bumpy's advance on the village with the Kyuteyusha in a safe position to the rear.

The third activation sees all three tanks and the artillery fire on the village.  The defending infantry disappears never to be seen again...


The Thumper tries to knock out the lead Bumpy while it is still loaded with infantry but has no effect.

The two infantry units  on the left flank advance towards the hill and wood while the Woodpecker advances into the woods they vacated.  On the right the Bunny pulls back to hide behind the hill.


Two activations are used to call in the airstrike on the Woodpecker.  Half the squares around it contain targets so there's a good chance of multiple hits.  The woodpecker fires at the plane and misses.  Bombs away!

The dice see the hits scatter to an empty square then back in on the Woodpecker, for no extra effect.  One chance to hit and it misses!


The third activation sees the Bumpys advance and two of them drop off their infantry, one occupying the village and the other moving to where it can attack an ATGM infantry next turn (Infantry may not fire and move in the same turn).

The fourth activation sees the Bumpy's combine fire on the ATGM and miss.  If the Infantry had been able to join in it would have cancelled the terrain modifier for being in woods.

The first action by the defender is to fire the ATGM at the Bumpy next to the town for free but it misses.


The infantry on the left flank continues to advance and the Woodpecker and Thumper combine fire on the village to no effect.

Poor dice see the turn end after only 2 activations.


The Bumpys attack the ATGM again, this time with infantry support but fail to hit them.

The tank company with artillery support opens fire on the infantry on the hill and blows them away.  That's twice they've attacked and twice they've destroyed their target.  Unfortunately this made me a little over confident with them...



They come charging forward to sweep all before them, or so they think...


The ATGM takes a free shot at the tank and rolls an 11.  BOOM!!!!

The other ATGM tries to take out a bumpy but harassing fire from the adjacent enemy infantry throws their aim off.


The Bunny pops back up onto the hill it was hiding behind and sends an ATGM at the tank company commander.  The Thumper and the infantry adjacent join in and BOOM!!! there goes another tank.  So much for the unstoppable charge...

The Woodpecker fires on the village to no effect.


A third attempt to clear the ATGM unit from the woods is finally successful...


And the infantry unit advances after combat.

The infantry in the village advances up the road.


The surviving tank pulls back onto the hill where the tank company started their disastrous charge from.



The Bunny fires at the HQ Bumpy but misses, then pulls back beside the Thumper while the surviving infanty on the left flank advances onto the hill.

The Thumper tries to hit the infantry on the road but misses.


Realising it's all down to the mechanised company now they push forward, the one with infantry left on board unloading them next to the remaining ATGM infantry in the wood.

The tank, artillery and adjacent Bumpy fire at the infantry on the hill but to no effect.  The infantry on the road misses the ATGM infantry too.


The woodpecker fires at the closest infantry and destroys it, clearing the way for the ATGM infantry to blow up the Bumpy they had just dismounted from.  BOOM!!!

The Thumper misses the infantry on the road again.


The third activation sees the Bunny move back onto the hill intending to fire on the HQ Bunny as the fourth activation, but the turn ends before it can.


The infantry on the road fires at the ATGM and misses, as does the Bumpy firing on the Bunny.  The infantry in the woods moves up.


The Bumpy in the village fires on the Woodpecker.  BOOM!!!


The Bunny on the hill falls back next to the Thumper again and the reinforcing tank company arrives in line on the right flank and concentrates fire on the Bumpy HQ.

And misses.


The Infantry on the road move to protect the village from the infantry on the hill.


The HQ Bumpy and the infantry in the woods fire at a tank each.  Combined fire on one target would be more likely to get a hit, but this is a time for hoping for ridiculous luck to turn the tide.  They both miss.


The ATGM misses the bumpy in the village but three tanks plus artillery make short work of the Bumpy HQ.  BOOM!!!


The infantry on the hill destroys the infantry next to them...


And advances next to the village.


Tank, Bumpy and artillery combine to punish the victorious infantry but miss.


The Bumpy pulls back down the road.


And the infantry falls back through the woods.


The tanks advance to form a line centred on the village.


And combine to knockout the last tank.  The surviving attackers hightailed it out of there at this point.

I think the rules worked perfectly, they gave a fast moving exciting game and after the first couple of turns I didn't have to refer to them during play.  Converting them to a square grid seemed to work out ok too.  I need to paint up the rest of the units I have and make some more terrain tiles so I can try a bigger battle next time. :)


Rule Changes and Scenario

For my Modern games I'm going to be using Tank on Tank from Lock 'n Load Publishing.  The rules are free to download from their site here.

I'm playing it on a square grid rather than the hexagons it is intended for, and there are also a few changes I'm making to reflect the change in period from WWII.

1.  When measuring on the square grid for both movement and firing half rounded up of all squares counted may be diagonal.

2. Some units are armed with ATGMs that are only effective against vehicles.  These are indicated by having a second range number in brackets which they use against targets on foot.  If this second range is 0 they may not fire at foot targets.

3. Instead of Anti Tank guns in the original rules I have ATGM infantry units.  These may fire at no activation cost. They have a move of zero which can only be used to change facing.

4. Infantry in the same square as a transport vehicle are considered to be inside it.  They may not fire while riding the vehicle and are destroyed with it if it is destroyed.  They can dismount for free if the vehicle is activated for movement and are placed in any adjacent square including diagonally.  This happens after the vehicle has moved, it may not move after dropping off it's infantry.  HQ status can either go with the infantry unit or remain with the vehicle at the player's discretion.

5. Airstrikes use a d8 rather than a d6 for determining which squares are hit.

6. Anti Aircraft units automatically fire at airstrikes at up to double their normal range.  Blocking terrain is ignored.  At normal range or less the strike is driven off on a roll of 3-4 and shot down on a roll of 5-6.  Beyond normal range up to double range it is driven off on a 4-5 and shot down on a roll of 6.  The initial square targeted is used for determining the range.  An airstrike driven off is available to be called in again on a later turn.

7. Unit Ratings.

Moggy II MBT  3-11-2
Bunny APC  3(0)-8-2
Thumper SPA  6-8-2
Woodpecker SPAA 2-10-2
Infantry  1-7/10-1
ATGM Infantry - 3(0)-7/10-0


QT74 MBT  3-10-2
Bumpy IFV  3(2)-9-2
Kyuteyusha SPA  6-7-2
QT34AA SPAA  2-9-2
Infantry  1-7/10-1
ATGM Infantry  3(0)-7/10-0

All bases represent platoons, and my initial battle will see a company of tanks and a company of mechanised infantry attack a reinforced company of infantry with a tank company reinforcing on turn 6.  The attackers have one airstrike available.




Sunday 15 January 2017

More Modern Pics

Finished some more vehicles and some infantry.


A command tank and a Kyuteyusha.  


Infantry in the same square as an IFV is being transported.


When these infantry dismount the command marker can go with them or remain with the vehicle.


ATGM unit.  These can't move but can fire without using an activation.


Some dismounted infantry.


A Bunny APC.


A Thumper artillery unit.


Another view of the Bunny, providing covering fire for the infantry in the village.


The view from the other side of the battlefield.