Scott Johnson, aka Col. Kilgore, has passed away

On Thursday Scott lost his fight against cancer.  He was 45 years old and leaves behind his wife Ashley and 12 year old son Nicholas. Scott was a good natured gamer whose broad interests ranged from Rogue Trader 40K, modern Africa,  the Banana Wars and the World Wars among others.  His posts here demonstrate that he was a talented modeler and a superb painter. He was one of my best friends and will be greatly missed.

There will be a gathering at United Friendship Church of Christ, 307 Turner Road, Lexington NC at 2:00pm Sunday Aug 23rd.

South Dakota Grudge Match! Flames of War CLT vs. RDU!

Hi Kids,  Ok, ok, I know two Flames of War groups based in North Carolina (Charlotte and Raleigh) have absolutely nothing to due with South Dakota, but ever since I first heard that term (South Dakota Grudge Match) I just can't resist using it whenever I get a chance!  Anyway, on with the story:  The CLT lads and the RDU kids decided it would be fun to set up a meet on Neutral Ground to have some fun and meet some new opponents.  High Point NC is roughly halfway between and had a store (Gaming Underground, or Underground Games, I can never remember) with lots of table space, and so it was on!
RDU had 8 guys turn up, CLT had 4 until two of us Winston-Salem gaming pariahs showed up to join the CLT side.  The plan was to have 1:1 games in the morning and after lunch play a big honkin' game of Total War with CLT vs. RDU.  Each player made a late war 1750 pt. army for the single games and modified it to 1000 pt. for the Total War game. Since RDU had a two player advantage each CLT player got extra points to make up the difference; 8000 pt. per side. Here are some shots of the 1:1 games.  A lot of them are from my game and the games near me. I didn't have time to wonder around and take pictures of everything since I was busy getting stomped!

 Here is a shot of my beginning forces, five ISU-122's and two 100mm ATG's (Proxy!).  Everything else was a scattered delayed reserve.  Bummer, I know.  Turn one, here comes the Luftwaffe!  Yeah, that was a bummer too! I don't even remember the last time I played late war, and I made the fatal error of loading up with Tiger killers!  Unfortunately Rate of Fire 1 just doesn't put enough hate mail down range to crush normal armies. I brought a plastic spoon to a gunfight! ISU-122's are Old Glory and the 203mm tracked guns are also available from them, but from a different manufacturer.

 The Finns charge across the table!  If you want to win, employ a Finn! Two T-34's pop their tops with 122mm hits!

 One of the CLT lads brought some Big Guns, too!

 It's Panthers-a-go-go! on the table next door!  Special rules about flank shots and bad luck with the dice lead to the Panthers destroying about 75% of the Russian army they faced.

 Meanwhile on my table my heavies are getting systematically crushed by the Finns.  My CO never did get a single hit, even while stationary!  Bummer!

 Some of my reserves arrive in the corner, three JS-2's!  They manage to blow the infantry to atoms!

 But meanwhile over on the objective its a different story!

 Some madman from RDU brought Cav!  I think they were Hungarians.

 Man, those are some Big Guns!

 I knew there'd be some Tigers around here somewhere!  One RDU army had 4 of the wee beasties.

 Some hardcore ammo carrier brought nothing but arty! Eye-yi-yi...

 Getting ready for the Total War game, a 6x20 foot table!

 My lads are set up!  Once again they would basically do nothing the entire game, blasting massive shells everywhere except towards the enemy!  Then again, the enemy wasn't foolish enough to come out of hiding anywhere near them...

 A tiny bit of the grand battery in the center of the RDU position.  I thought this kind of set up went out of style after the First World War, but by golly it was ugly being on the receiving end of all those muzzles! It's a wonder the table didn't collapse!

 The center of the CLT deployment, nowhere near as intimidating!

 Turn One, Shot One, One Dead ISU-122!  Aw crap!  Arty with AT5 barrages? Gee whiz! And I didn't even get a turn yet!

 The horsemen arrive in our deployment zone, turn two!  Things are heading south in a hurry!

 But one of the CLT (W-S auxillary) guys had a mean infantry list!  Soviet Combat Sappers!  Trashing tanks, ATG's, infantry, cavalry; they spank everybody one at a time or all at once!  None Shall Pass!

And with that it was all over.  In all the excitement some of us didn't get a third turn, but the CLT side was getting crushed so comprehensively I really don't think it would have made any difference if we had.  The objectives were still pretty close, RDU being ahead by one, but the CLT armies were so badly hammered we packed everything up and called it a day!

 

Maybe I should've gone with the T34/85 list...

 

 

Ready for primer, Flesh Tearers Scout Sniper squad

The 40k league has started but health issues have put my model building behind schedule. I had a good day and managed to get this Scout sniper squad cleaned up, reassembled and the bases flocked. I just need a warmer day to get them primed.

I received the squad second hand and missing a couple parts. I ended up rebuilding the missile launcher and the kneeling sniper to match up their bits. The sergeant model was missing a hand and a telescope so I added a chain sword hand and an old style space marine telescope to the rifle. I plan to have two scout sniper squads in 1500 point army, now I just need to get this one painted.

ColKG

Finished assembling Flesh Tearers Scout Biker squads

I plan to filed two Space Marine Scout Biker squads in my 40k League Flesh Tearers army and finally managed to get them built.

I used the newer scout biker bits to add Astartes Grenade launchers to three bikes in each squad. The grenade launcher bits went onto the old style bikes surprisingly well. I originally planned to put them on the old style 40mm cavalry bases but I scrounged enough new longer bases for both squads.

Scout bikers assembled. My current plan is to equip both squads the same, with a vet sergeant with a Combi-grav gun, three Astartes Grenade launchers and cluster mines. The mines will let me booby trap a couple terrain pieces and then send the scout bikers to harass the enemy back field.

ColKG

Wip Flesh Tearers Scout Biker squads

I plan to add two squads of Space Marine Scout Bikers to my Flesh Tearers army to use in the current 40k league. I have a bunch of the old style metal scout bikers and have picked up some bits to round out the squads.

The first model finished a, A Scout Biker veteran Sergeant. I plan to have a vet sgt leading each squad and armed with a combi-grav gun. I used the drum magazine bolter bit from the original squad. it has a big targeter that once painted will mark it out as the combi weapon.

I bit purchased six sets of astartes grenade launchers to out fit both squads with the max amount. The grenade launcher cowlings took a little modification but fit surprisingly well.

The assembly line of scout bikers waiting for arms. I had previously used many of the scout shotgun arm bits to build a Elysian drop troop veteran squad back in the day. One of the problems of raiding a kit for bits to finish another project. I started raiding the bits boxes to come up with some replacement arms.

After a short search I came up with some bolt pistol arms I had cut from the old Space crusade scouts.

I cut these off of the space crusade scout sergeants to make them into a missile launcher armed scouts years ago. Once again never throw away any bits.

After a bit of a pin and a little trim the hand looks like it was made for the kit.

Two down and one more to go, then it is onto the rest of the bikes.

ColKG

Soul Grinder Reconstruction

I recently picked up a lot of Chaos Daemons from a local gamer. Included in the lot was a Soul Grinder that had seen better days. It looks like a small dog had won the fight an gnawed the power fist arm off at the shoulder. I wish I would have taken a couple before shop but i already had the milliput on before I thought about the camera.

I used a big piece of Milliput to fill the void left in the shoulder. I then pinned a piece of 2.5mm styrene rod so I would have an attach point for the arm. once the arm id finished i will come back later and use green stuff the sculpt on the shoulder.

The power claw arm patched and filled with some milliput.

Dry fit of the shoulder.

Longer shot, I think it will work

The key is using a piece of 5/32nd styrene tube to make a locking ring to keep the arm in place while I sculpt the shoulder over the joint.

The first round of green stuff to add some mechanical detail back to the arm.

The flip side of the arm with more green stuff detail. I will not be able to hide all the damage but it is a warped Daemon Engine of Chaos, a little battle damage adds character.

ColKG