Saturday 23 December 2023

"When only the most unreasonable solutions are the reasonable options left". TEAM YANKEE - REASON'S END and the use of weapons of mass destruction in-game!

 So part of the joys of World War III - and I use the term 'joys' somewhat loosely, is the fact that... well... it's WORLD WAR III.

...and what good third world war wouldn't be complete without the ability to launch TACTICAL NUCLEAR DEVICES at your opponent?

So, I added it! (SCRIBD version here!) Now be aware that these rules are STUPIDLY broken, you can lose entire armies to these effects, but it's about the story!


In saying that, having this effect occur in one game towards the end of a battle, and then following on with the 'Polluted Environment' that comes after using these 'Quasi-official' rules can make for a very, very interesting narrative campaign!

Sunday 17 December 2023

"SAVANNAH STORM: The SADF in Team Yankee" and the "Cutio-Cuanavale" playtesting supplement!

Hey all!  Well, it's finally done!  The supplement I have been building as a playtest for using South African forces in Team Yankee is ready for you to have a look at, take a crack at playing, and let me know what you think!

If you want to download it you can either do so via the "TEAM YANKEE (unofficial): World War III" Facebook page, or via the LINK HERE (or HERE for the Scribd version!):


 

This has been a really fun endeavour to dig into, and there is so, so much more planned to build out in the wider SAVANNAH STORM book.

In the meantime, please test, adjust and let me know how it goes as per the details provided in the document, or by responding to me here on this page and I'll get back to you!


Most importantly, ENJOY!

(In the meantime, here's some tidbits of what the wider Savannah Storm book will include in the form of visual representation of forces... you'll notice some very interesting eight-wheelers that may have been given a 'Global War' kick in the pants for their R&D - and what's with the Merkava, only time will tell!)























Friday 10 November 2023

Back from the dead... almost in quite a literal sense!

 So... it's been a long time between drinks for this blog.


I could go into the long and convoluted tail of woe and sorrow that the last few years have been, but really it all boils down to the following...

My life getting totally turned around not once, but twice, in the space of five years, two interstate moves back and forth in Australia (basically like moving from Florida to Montana, then back again (although we're on the upside down part of the world so it gets colder when you travel down unlike Florida!), two career changes, and having to have major surgery to sort a couple of really nasty health issues.

Couple that with COVID and a couple of big wars in the world - and I'd say I've just explained everyone's general "last five years"!

So yes, it's been a ride, and my hobby time, including this site, definitely disappeared and took a hit.  However; in saying that, I'm finally back in the saddle with a whole kit of new things to look into!

I'm still doing the 15mm sci-fi, but it is very secondary to the 6mm projects.  However; there will be more of them in the future as I have slowly been building up a stockpile of great models from the various 15mm producers (and more than a few non-15mm models that fit with a scale agnostic vibe).

6mm has moved forward a little, but like the 15mm it too had to take a back seat to life, depression and getting myself back in the saddle - but I have some very, very interesting stuff to share in the coming weeks as I begin to build out and playtest my own South African military force built around Team Yankee force book dynamics.  I call it 'SAVANNAH STORM', and will keep people in the loop as I build out the details - a surprising amount of which is already done.



 Above are just some examples of the work I am putting into this project, I think it's a field of the Cold War that really deserves to be examined further - especially as it was one of the few places where the Cold War really did thaw out and become the hot mess that was feared!  

The 6mm imagi-nations will also be continuing alongside my SADF adventures, as I build them out for future gaming to act as support elements for my testing of the Savannah Storms rules and for general interest.


Finally, I am dipping my toes into the 3d-printing world, although 'dipping' them is really more "wondering why the hell the machine won't print a basic M113 APC it's just a box on treads for goodness sake" right now!

Thursday 20 June 2019

Still alive - just very, very busy!

Well hi everybody!  So the last few years have been, well, busy!  Unfortunately, not on the hobby side!  Fear not though, this is a message to say that this site is not dead - it is merely in hiatus whilst I focus on my university degree. 
As much as I enjoy painting and modelling my models, I kind of need to get my pharmacy studies done so I have a job to pay my bills (and of course, get more models!)

There is much in the work in the background however, and should I have the time available to me, I will begin to add links to information about my different military forces I am building up.

In the meantime, here are some extra shots of miniatures I have been painting or converting in the limited spare time I have.  A lot of these conversions were first-time 'proof of concept' models, that will be replicated now that they have successfully worked out. 

Aerial forces will also start making more of an appearance, as I start to expand into both 1/700 scale aircraft for flying units, and 1/285 models for those caught on the ground!





I have put a significant amount of effort into a number of my imagi-nation forces, especially this particular one which now has light battle tanks, first-generation IFVs, anti-tank missile units and airmobile armoured cars!




So yes, fret not people, the gears of this page may be in neutral at the moment, but the paint is still getting thrown around on occasion!



Saturday 24 February 2018

New Year... More updates!





Conversion corner going for gold, playing around
with AML-60 and AML-90 turrets to see if BMP-2
hulls look cool with those cannons... they do ;)

Yes yes, I know, I've been away for ages!  Sorry!

The reason though has been pretty important.  As some who read the blog may know, just as I started the blog back in 2016 things took a turn for the worse with pretty much everything else in my life.  Suffice to say it was a hectic time!  I spent a solid part of 2017 basically getting myself back on my feet, with a lot of time spent at university as I rebuilt for a new career.

Well; that work is finally starting to pay off as after fifteen months of looking I have finally got employment again and can begin to truly pick myself up off the floor and start getting back into the more enjoyable aspects of life, like my models!

Two of my armies in the mix.
As usual, this is not exactly what the project looks like now!
So what does that mean?  It means that 2018, whilst I won't be posting as much as I still have university and now work commitments... the posts I put up will be big and absolutely chockers with detail!

Quantity has a quality of its own, but nothing compares to quality alone!  :)

Anyway; the first things I am doing are laying out some forces to start painting and assembling; I hope to get a platoon a week done and dusted... but I may spread it out to one every fortnight as uni workload kicks into gear.



Also, conversion corner is still alive and well; and I'll be putting up more information about models as time comes.

Such as my utilisation of GHQ ERC-90 turrets and GHQ Sheridan hulls to make a near-replica of the rare Belgian ACEC-90 - a commercial light tank design...
Real world ACEC-90...
... and my rendition using GHQ kits.











...and such beasties as the M-60-120S, which was made using GHQ M1A1 turrets and GHQ Magach-6B hulls.


The real McCoy... and my version!

 
Apart from conversion corner I also intend to do a number of product reviews as well.  I have used Shapeways for a large number of models recently, such as the LARS-1 MLRS and the South African G-5 howitzer you may have been able to pick out in the army shot... these products deserve some extra recognition as whilst pricey, they are worth every cent to date!

I'm always happy to chat to anyone about my forces/ swap ideas etc as well and frequent a number of the 6mm Facebook pages, I even opened up a page specifically for 3mm and 6mm gaming here in Australia, so feel free to stop by and take a peek! :)

Anyway; that's the plan for this year.  So let us see how we go!

Sunday 3 December 2017

First 6mm games! (FistFul Of TOWS (FFOT) 3 gameplay)




So today my mate Ben and I had our first game of Fistful of TOWS 3; we only used the basic rules for this game as it was our first foray into the field, so our ruleset was relatively simple.  Nonetheless, the game was very enjoyable and we managed to get two games in with increasing complexity.

Although I did win both battles, I would say that it was simply the luck of the dice in the end!  I believe that the first battle was a little lopsided though; the NATO tanks were surprisingly resilient against the Warsaw Pact gunfire, and up to the end still provided a considerable threat.  I feel that maybe another two or three stands would have equalled out the first battle easily.

The second battle I feel may have done with an extra stand or two; however I think that a slightly more aggressive approach would have won out, Ben was a bit cautious of the Abrams tanks on overwatch; perhaps a little moreso than needed.  Conversely I probably would have lost more units in a faster turn of events by rushing forward if I were at the helm!

All in all, we both came away from it feeling that the battles were VERY close calls either way; and we are already planning for our next battles to come!

So without further ado; here is the stories of the battles today!

GAME 1: Armoured skirmish.
Forces: 
Ben - Musorian tank section (using Warsaw Pact tank rules in FFOT III basic rules)
Nathan - Australian tank sectio (using NATO tank rules in FFOT III basic rules)

Turn 1:
"Command had mentioned that there were potentially up to six enemy armoured vehicles that had breached the DMZ.  The crisis along the borderline had escalated rapidly in the last few weeks, with the Musorian coup a few months back, the Musorian military had become more blase' in their aggression, so much so that it was almost as if they were actually looking for a war.
 Moving forward, the first Abrams suddenly halted, spun in position and let loose with its main gun against a threat outside of the view of the command team.  Moments later the Musorians responded in kind; and a shell struck the vehicle square in the turret ring, delivering a killing blow to the Abrams as the crew abandoned the vehicle and leapt into the relative safety of the nearby canefield.



 

Musorian armoured forces roll into the AO.





First blood to the Musorians!


Fighting from there on was fierce, the Musorians, led by the Brave Comrade Ben, pushed forward rapidly against the NATO tanks.  Unfortunately for them, the terrain suited the defender in this case and they funnelled directly through a small causeway into open terrain.

Firing against a foe with better skill and concealed, the outcome should have been a whitewash...

The enemy armour had chosen their position wisely, despite the fact that two of the Capitalists were now burning, there were even more of his own tanks from his unit with their own funeral pyres ablaze...

"Do not stop!  Keep moving!  Keep firing!  If we stop we will die like the others!" he yelled to his driver, the gunner, one of the better ones from the unit, quietly praised the fact that the stabiliser on this tank worked as the vehicle careened off the road and across a recently plowed field.  Lining up the capitalist tank in his sights he depressed the trigger; a loud BOOM filled his ears and acrid smoke from the shell filled his lungs, but he still managed a yelp of excitement when the round struck and seemed to disappear into the tank before them!  He'd done it!  He had destroyed another Capitalist ta-

He never felt the response from the final tank in the formation as the shot was returned in kind and detonated the ammunition store in the bottom of the tank...


Instead, it turned into a absolute last second knifefight!  Enough tanks survived the run across the field to give me a scare, but through sheer good luck, my last tank pulled through and took out both remaining enemy vehicles!

 The final tank wound down its engines and the commander of the vehicle opened his hatch.  The last two enemy vehicles had essentially been engaged within a few metres.  Their shells had missed in the flurry of the moment, and it was as much luck as it was skill that the rounds from their cannon had connected and struck true.

The scene before him was a hellscape, the ambush point; a small break in the fields with a service road, was littered with wrecked enemy tanks, as was the field before him.  Besides him he saw the remaining crew tending to the injured from their vehicles.  Medivac was on the way already; but this was a victory that was hollow in every sense.



Monday 27 November 2017

We watch the lightning, crack over the *very cheaply made* cane fields and often think that this is Australia!

...kudos to anyone who gets the song reference in the title! ;)

Anyway, this post is a very quick one again about some area terrain I made today.  If you have seen my posts in the 6mm Facebook pages, then this info will be nothing new - but for anyone else, keep on reading!

So being an Aussie on our coastline, a lot of the area up North has Sugar Cane fields... so I was hoping to make a rendition of those as area terrain for some of my battles.  My first attempt was to paint the paint brush bristles in an old brush a deep green, cover them in PVC glue, let dry, then cut and glue to a base.

It... well... it looks better as Elephant Grass/a slosh-pit of greenery haha! Still useful but definitely not the effect I wanted - and much too much work for the result.

Left and above are my original attempt at long grass... "Kind of" works, but I feel I'd be better suited putting some water effects around the base and making it into a swamp!


So I went to my local Bunnings store and found the perfect solution... a Coir floormat on the cheap, and a tin of green paint. Five minutes of brushing on return home, and the results match the best examples I have seen online where they make each canestalk seperately!

These coir floor mats would make great cornfields (green on the bottom with a flecking of yellow over the top ends) burnt cane using a black/grey paint, or wheat with a dash of brown thrown over them...
A much, MUCH better version.  Some earth coloration to the sides of the matt and it will pretty much sort itself out!



You could even do the elephant grass through painting the whole lot a darker green hue than mine.

Eventually I will cut out segments to act as fields, maybe even dig a few patches out and place some paintbrush bristles in there with a wrecked aircraft... maybe a downed helo perhaps???