Flames of war - Halmstad game-tournament, May 2024

Early May this year I attended to one of the bigger and nicer

events in my opinion, Flames of war - game tournament!

The tournament was situated in a very nice building in the

center of Halmstad near the Nissan-river.

The house was built in 1912 and has the very best character

in my taste (architectural details, spacious and big windows

and not least parquet floors made of solid oak.

On top of all of this written above the persons that organized

the tournament were all very inviting and I felt more than 

welcome as a newbie-player from the countryside. :) 

At arrival we was briefed about the rules and also how

to play and which person to face in the game.

The tournament also handed out prices to the winners of

the game but also i the class, best painted models/figures.

Very nice tournament that will be held once again in 

august this year at same location.

For more information visit "Flames of war Sweden" on

Facebook. 

Next report will be published about my two games at this

tournament. To be continued!

  

Some 1:32 plastic for my son

On  a secondhand-market online I found a package

of medieval knights, cowboys and indians and Airfix

US infantry(WW2) and British 8th army(WW2).

My son that is only 4 years old needed som more

figures to play with and I thought that this could be

a nice addition to his first "buy" of silver-knights and

riders. All figures are in the 1:32-scale.

This is a nostalgia-report and I remember my first 

buy myself when my father bought med german

and russian infantry on bulk (cheap Airfix-copies

made in Hong kong).These figures was in 1:72-

scale and not so pretty but I played with them as much

as I could in this age. When I got those figures I also

remember that all military-related toys in Sweden were

forbidden to buy (1970-ies). A lot of memories come 

back to me when I watch these pictures and I hope that 

it also gives you outthere som memories also. :)

Great northern war - danish troops

 A Project that has been in very slow progress for years has been

to play small skirmishes within the Great northern war.

The politics and the history during this period 17-1800 has always

been a very interessting to me.

Probably because I was born and raised in this part of Scandinavia

and many old houses and landmarks still remains and make the history

come alive.

I already have carolingian infantry, cavalry and artillery in the

1:72-scale(20mm) and these figures from Zvezda are indeed very good

looking figures/models and they have inspiredme to proceed making

something worthy fot placing at the gaming-table.

Danish troops can be bought in tin but I choose to make a conversion

using plastic-soldiers from Strelets.

I choose french miniatures from the range War of the Spanish Succession.

The period is late 1700-th Century and will be very nice painted in the

danish colours. Big hats, and long coats and also wigs is in my opinion

danish details during the GNW-period.

The figures are nicely sculpted and I chose different boxes to make a 

diversity. I will mount the figures 1,2 and 3 on each base.  

I also have good litterature to paint the figures as close as possible

to the period eventhough it is a conversion.

Next report about this topic will show both the painted figures and

my inspirational source(books and pictures).

Nebelwerfers and softskins

 This will be my first VERY delayed report 2024 about my hobby.

Because of my very hectic life with work and family my

hobby is now limited to collect models and plan future

projects. This report is first about buying some very 

useful mobile rocketlaunchers with gunservice. 

The german WW2-battery of 4 models show the very power-

ful 15cm Panzerwerfer 42 auf Sf (SdKfz 4/1). 

They combine both strength and mobility and will be very 

useful on the gaming-table.

Next up is heavy german transport Sd Kfz 7 (8-ton) tractor

that was used during the war to tow 88mm-guns and

15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 18. Very useful also to recover

tanks that were broken at the front.

I also bought some german softskins: a kubelwagen-jeep and

two Horch 180 type 1a for transporting light artillery and

personel.

Finally I also bought 3 more lend-lease US M3-halftracks

to move my soviet infantry and artillery.

Not to forget I bought US tankers that will be converted

and bits in metal to repair some of my fragile 3d-printed

models in resin. All in the 15mm-scale to the game Flames

of war.

Smart and cheap storage for miniatures - updated

During this summer my collection of miniatures 

and models has been growing even more since

I posted my last report about how to store these:

https://huggochslagsmart-and-cheap-miniature-storage.html

I have found out that IKEA sell "big" cardboard boxes

that has the measurements inside to perfect fit

my homemade cheap green cardboard-trays.

The IKEA-box is named Pappis and cost about

2 Euros each. Very good storage indeed and 

allows me to be able to pile my green-cardboard-

trays 3 layers high. To lift my piled green card-

trays easy I use A3-sheets of paper but I will

probably ugrade these to permanent laces or

small strings that are firmly attached underneath.

This solution will be a very good way to store all

of my miniatures and models both 15mm and 28mm.

Back again

My blog has been very quiet lately and the reason

is very simple, my own time is less than limited.

During my absence I have struggled with renovating

and completing our garden with: green house, isolating

our garage, building big wooden boxes to plant flowers

in, carpentry-work, paving etc etc.

I also managed to reach the age of 50 and now I have officially

entered the "dark side". :)

Eventhough all the above and working full time and taking

care of my children and family I still work with my hobby

in mind.

Latest buy has been 4 plastic kits to be used in Flames of war

and the Berlin 1945-scenario.

I also bought some german Fallschirmjägers and german infantry

in greatcoats. The german FJ-unit is now ready to be completed

and I will also add some recoilless cannons(puppchen), medium-

mortars and PAKs for close support.

The new figures are all from Skytrex and I like the a lot.

The gritty-pictures show my figures I already have in my collection

before that I added for an complete overview.

The FJ fought in Berlin 1945 and on the ground they were a feared

elite-unit not to be triffled with. :)

Next report will be about models I have drawn in CAD myself to

be 3d-printed and used on the gaming-table.

Napoleon at war - figures part 2

Now the time has come to present my main force of french

napoleonics including artillery and cavalry.

It is a nice mix of Esci and Airfix and most of the collection

are still in their boxes.

In the miniature wargame Napoleon at war the figures will be

placed like this on each base:

Infantry:  4 or 2

Cavalry: 3 or 1

Artillery: 4

The nations in the second buy are:

French, British, Scottish, Preussian, Austrian and Russian and

one extra box with Americans (Washingtons army).

The French:

Airfix French grenadiers of the imperial guard Set 01749

Esci French grenadiers of the imperial guard Set 214

Esci French grenadiers of the imperial guard (plastic bag) Set 214

Esci French line infantry (plastic bag) Set 227

Esci French Cuirassiers Set 235

Airfix French Cavalry Set 01736

Esci French cavalry polish lancers Set 218

Esci French Artillery Set 234

Russians

Esci Russian grenadiers Set 236

Esci Russian infantry and artillery (Crimean war) Set 221

The English/Scottish:

Airfix Highland infantry Set 01735

Esci Scots grey - cavalry Set 217

Esci British light dragoons Set 230

Esci Cardigans 11th hussars (Crimean war) Set 220

Esci British artillery Set 233

Esci British and french artillery Set 219

Airfix British artillery Set 01746

Preussians:

Esci Preussian infantry (plastic bag) Set 226

Austrians:

Esci Austrian infantry (plastic bag) Set 226

A big haul indeed but the collection is now almost complete.

To summarize:

The french: 200+100 infantry, 12+11+12 cavalry, 4+2 sets of artillery 

The british 44 infantry, 12+12+12 cavalry, 4+2+2 sets of artillery 

The extras (Crimean war and Washington army) will somehow be

converted to be used together with the main fractions.

To compare Esci British light dragoons Set 230 and

Esci Cardigans 11th hussars (Crimean war) Set 220 their uniforms

and weapons looks almost identical.

A lot to base and paint but also very fun and a treat for the

eye!!!