Classified-special operations missions 1940-2010

The latest scenario book from Ambush Alley Games for thier force on force game has been out for a couple of weeks but I have only just sat down and had chance to read it, its the now common AAG/Osprey format with 136 pages and lots of pictures of wargames in action ,plates from osprey books and table top maps.There are pages on special op forces from around the globe and rules to suit ,a guide to wargames figures and lots of scenarios.
The Scenarios are split into 3 sections :
Historical :
Raiders on makin island -1942 USMC v Japs
Heading toward extraction-1969 Vietnam
fighting th war of Attrition - 1970 Sinai egypt v IDF
The Battle of Mirbat -oman 1972 SAS v Rebels
Bulldozers lead the way- 1983 Grenada
price of a vendetta - 1986 Afghanistan
Seals on the Tarmac- 1989 Panama city USA v Panama
Cross Border Incident -2008 Syria USA v Al Qaeda
Night Raid -2012 Helmand ISAF v Taliban

Generic (made up )
6 scenarios using generic forces including 2 mini-campaigns

Hollywood (film based scenarios )
3 scenarios one involving Force 10 on a secret mission against the Nazi forces in the Med ..
A team of Special ops on a jungle mission who become hunted by a alien hunter ???
A special ops team betrayed and alone haveto escape a drugs cartel in mexico


A great addition to a great game 10 out of 10

tarzan

 Tarzan ,Jane , Boy and cheets (depending on which films you watch ) for Pulp Alley , figures are from Nortstar , unpainted pics earlier in the blog.

Brimham Rocks

 The other side of my blog covers my hobby of walking ,usually on here I only mention the battle fields or museums I visit but today we went to Brimham Rocks near Harrogate .The amzing shapes and balancing acts left by erosion and glacial movement have left rock formations that would grace any fantasy or sci fi battlefield ,a day out well worth having just to stand there and be amazed?

Laser cut buildings review.

 I have recently built some of the laser cut buildings from both Battle Flag and 4Ground and thought I would give a brief review of what I thought of them and how they went together.

 First the Battle ground western range ,I have built 2 the saloon and Sheriffs office ,I thought I would start with the smaller ,simpler one first which was the saloon this was my first mistake as the instruction sheet is not that clear and I ended up pulling it apart .The problem was the raised floor and if I had looked at the Sheriffs office I would not have had this problem as the instructions in that are a lot clearer .as can be seen in the photos the boardwal;k has steps up to it and the interior floor is raised to match up to this and the small supports for this need to be in the exact place which is hard to see in the saloon instructions.

 The detail is very good with seperate door frames and interior floor and wall planking shown, The roofs come plain tar covered types which I prefer but tiles can be bought seperatley from battle Flag. They scale perfectly with Artizan figures although I based mine on 2 pence coins and these do take some placing on the board walk ,especially behind the hitching rails.The Interior of the Sheriffs office is more detailed with a side room with "metal" jail doors ,this section fitted together very well considering I actually broke one of the rails the doors slide into. The Sheriff sign also comes with this kit but the wanted posters are ones I downloaded from the web.The saloon does not come with a sign but one can be purchased from the Manufacturer the one on mine is again downloaded from the web.

 I have read about warping when painting and gluing together but I did not experience any problems I used PVA glue and Vajello paints .

I only painted the window frames and roofs and the jail walls and bars and personally will leave the wooden walls and floors alone on these kits.

 The interior with Jail cells. I know there are cheaper kits on the market but I will get more Battle flag ,I love the detail and the raised board walks ,if you do want cheaper Battleflag actually do a set of cheaper buildings but these do not have the raised floors or boardwalks.

Overall a 10 out 0f 10 as the only real problem would easily have been prevented if I had looked at other instructions or even been a bit better model builder.I have more on order.

 One of the 4 Ground dark age hovels ,a lovely pre painted kit that fitted together really well ,The instructions again were not perfect but the kit was pretty simple and the joints were obvious ,even to me. The roof is teddy bear fur which when the instructions are followed soon looks and feels like thatch .

I have also built one of the small wagons from 4 Ground which again is a lovely kit it is shown in a western setting but will appear across the centuries for me in many different settings .

4 ground make buildings and accessories for the dark Ages ,ECW , 20th century and the American frontier .I plan to buy more of the Dark Ages ,ECW and American Frontier range and I also have the Rorkes Drift set sold by Warlord games but made bu 4 griound.

4 ground score a 10+ out of 10 the pre painting saves lots of time.

Force on Force Point men

Agian we are  proud to have been accepted a Ambush Alley games pointmen for the Uk and look forward to promoting not only a superb gaming system but raising funds for The Royal British Legion again .Also now I am just waiting for one op i will be able to start the FOF tournament  that I meant to start last year . More details soon and I will contact everyone that signed up for the event before I had to cancel .

Cold War Gone Hot

Cold war gone Hot will figure in our force on Force games this year pictures of the toys soon .

Wild Wild West

Another post ,a different game this time.In fact these are for my 16 year old daughter who will only game wild west and the only westerns she will watch are either the john wayne Rio Bravo types or the Kurt Russell Tombstone, so anyway rushed these out for her this week the Earps and  Jail and Doc Hpolliday and a saloon ,Doc's not finisehed yet and the Earps need varnishing and Matte coat applying . The figures are Artizan and The buildings are the excellent ones from Battleflag. Better pictures and a review of the buildings soon.

.

Pulp Alley -out of my bag

Just looking through my figure trays and bags and found some nice figures that just need touching up and rebasing for Pulp Alley leagues ,a team of investigators and some Horrible creatures that inhabited my old Cthulu games .

And what I was looking for my old 1940's Universal movie monsters yet again to use as a Pulp Alley league

I ve just located and orderd a Lon Chaney type wolfman and the mummy needs re basing , need abbot and costello set and I'm away  . Got about 5 leagues on the go at the moment and none fully  finished yet ?

Chimp ?

As requested by Dave at Pulp Alley close ups of the Northstar Lord of the Jungle Chimp

Pulp Alley :update 3

Ill Health and bad weather have held me up from collecting my Tarzan figures from the emporium but now I have them in my hands thought I would do a quick review of the figures most of which will end up in my Pulp Alley Leagues. I purchased the lord of the jungle pack and four packs of cannibals all manufactured by Northstar miniatures. Each pack contains four miniatures the tarzan pack being the best pack overall ,the figures are the same size as Artizan and contain seperate spears and shields where required (above) the spears will need cutting down to size. The figures are very brittle , a couple lost arms as I tried to position them but they went back together thanks to rapid cure ,overall detail is good ,some of the figures will need the hands drilling to hold the spears . They come on integral bases and not slottas . The Tarzan pack contains the man himself ,Jane ,Boy and Cheeta all the human figures carry knifes.

The Cannibal King pack contains a portly king ,a crouching witch doctor and drummer with drum plus a pile of skulls.

All the other packs contain four figures in action poses 

Cannibal war-chiefs

Extreme cannibals (tribal scars ,bones through noses)

Cannibals in tribal masks

All in all Im happy with the packs( the only one I might not use is the exreme cannibals which ironically were the ones I wanted most ) and I am looking forward to painting them up .