Martlet Campaign - Games 1 & 2

Over the past two weekends we started and re-started again playing the Martlet campaign:  no surprise, my gaming pals and I seem to be a little bit rusty in relation to the Chain of Command book and additionally forgot to read the special scenario rules, which basically invalidated the result of the first two games.

The first replayed game (Scenario 1-Probe into Fontenay) represents an attack of the German outposts located in the outskirts of the village of Fontenay. The British win if at least one team exits the table through the German baseline. 

Chain of Command Martlet Campaign - Introduction

I can’t believe it’s been now two years since we played our latest Chain of Command game. Despite having used the rules intensively since the release (and even before, as we were part of the testing group), for different reasons my gaming group oriented their games towards other periods and rules, falling almost into oblivion… until this weekend.

One of my club members and I were having a coffee a few weeks back on a Sunday and I casually mentioned Chain of Command. Very quickly we both close a date and today we have started a (hopefully) new cycle of games.

As we prefer campaigns to casual games, we agree to play the Martlet pint-sized campaign, likely to be followed by the Scottish Corridor supplement in due time. Martlet is a pre-Epson Normandy June 44 operation. The goal was to capture the Raury Spur by the 49^th West Riding Division to protect the flank of the 51^st Scottish Division during Epsom.

Source: Too Fat Lardies - Martlet Campaing Book

This is a 6-rung campaign in which the British fight not only against the Germans but also the time, to complete the breakthrough in 1 day before the opening of Epsom.

 

Source: Too Fat Lardies - Martlet Campaing Book

Thrilled to resume my love affaire with Chain of Command, I’ll keep an updated diary of the campaign over the next weeks. I’ll be leading a panzergrenadier platoon of the 12^th SS HJ although on the table I’ll be featuring my German Fallschirmjager models instead (I don’t own any SS models and is very unlikely that I’ve ever will paint  some).

More news coming soon.

Th Painting Challenge - Final Report

Incredibly how fast time flies when you are enjoying an activity. Unexpectedly, March 21^st arrived and the IX Challenge was suddenly called off. I couldn’t achieved my target points (750) but having obtained 637 points left me happy enough (my highest score in a Challenge so far).

This is a group photo showing all the models painted included in the customary wrap up post in the Challenge blog.

And now let’s look at the different entries since my latest post here

The Painting Challenge Progress Report (2)

This is the second report of my participation in Curt’s Annual Painting Challenge.

Over the last three weeks since the previous blog entry, I continued fully focused on my British Airborne platoon for Chain of Command, adding a few pieces to the project and maintaining a (surprising) good painting momentum.

The first new entry was the Section Two of the platoon. This is identical to the first section, featuring a Rifle Team and a LMG (Bren) Team   and led by a Junior Leader (in the parlance of Chain of Command).

The Painting Challenge Progress Report (1)

As many of you know, the ninth edition of the Annual Painting Challenge started with a Bang! last 21^st December, extending until the end of the winter season in March this year. My project for the current edition (also explained in previous posts) is to complete a British Airborne platoon with supports to play with Chain of Command.

The platoon OB is as follows:

·       Platoon HQ: 2 x senior leaders, PIAT Team, 2” Mortar Team and Sniper Team

·       Section one and two each with 1 Junior Leader, Rifle team (5 men armed with lee Enfields and one with Sten) and a LMG Team (Bren Gun with 3 crew)

·       Section Three: 2 LMG teams as above plus 2 Stens and a Sniper Team

How is it going so far? Not bad at all considering that only two weeks has passed since the start of the event. I have managed to maintain a good momentum, undoubtedly helped by the Christmas holidays; I have invested many hours day and night to paint during the break.

My first entry (click in the links for more details) was a cadre of senior leaders, including some well Hollywoodian characters easily recognisable if you have watched A Bridge Too Far.

So here we have Major General “Roy” Urquhart, Lt Colonel Frost and major Digby Tahtam-Warter

Merry Christmas!

The usual post to wish my followers and other casual sneak-peekers of the blog (excluding the Russian bots) a most Merry and Happy Christmas in the company of your families and beloved ones.

Christmas Eve is a day of special celebration in Spain, where the family and close relatives or friends gather to share a (usually pantagruelic) dinner at home. Also it's when your most miss those who are not here like my father (pased in 1999) and my father in law (2015).

Have a great holiday!

A Personal Guide to Painting British Paratroopers

The IX Painting Challenge is now live. On this first day I woke early to attempt having my first submission ready before lunch time, which you can see in the Challenge website.

As commented in a previous post, my core project for this year’s Challenge edition will be a British Airborne platoon + supports for Chain of Command.

The most challenging aspect of the project is how to paint the camo scheme used by the British paratroopers in using the Denison smock. I know some wargamers whom painting camo takes them easily aback; but as I already experienced when I did my German Fallschirmjager army a couple of years ago, it is just a matter of experimenting and practicing.

I’ll try in this post is to show how I do it, and hopefully will help some people out there breaking the mental barrier of painting camo schemes. Incidentally, I had a similar mental blocking with the airbrush until this year; but thanks to the help of one my wargame club’s friends now I’m totally hooked to airbrush painting and what I regret is not having tried it before.

Before we start with this step-by-step guide, a couple of disclaimers: first, my painting style is oriented towards the wargaming table, not to win a Golden Demon; this means that I do not go into a lot of detail, just enough to look good on the table at a distance.

Second, I like to paint faded camos. Personally, I find painting pristine uniforms with bright colours utterly unrealistic when on the table, so I like a faded uniform finish in my models, reflecting the wear and tear over time. This is not to criticise anyone (as the Spanish say goes “on tastes, nothing is written in stone”), it is just how I like to paint my models.

So let’s star.

Colour palette

The Dennison Smock is the critical part in the British paratrooper gear. Looking at contemporary colour photos, collectors platforms and reenactors websites, you’ll notice that unlike the German schemes, the British feature relatively large splash of brownish red and green on a light beige (sometimes dark yellow) base. 

Monty, the one and only