Alien Extermination

 The ship's damage control party was armed as they advanced into the caustic fog left by the invading alien creatures . . . 

Book Recommendations on WWII Pacific Campaign

H.P. Willmott's "Empires in Balance" (1982) is an excellent book, easy to read and includes detail of both the early war Allied and Japanese strategies and operational moves.  It focuses on pre-war Japan, conflict with China, political strategies vis a vis the West, and a quick study on resources of the Japanese Empire.  It begins military operation in detail starting from the 7/8 December Japanese strikes, campaigns in Indonesia and Philippines and continues to April 1942.  Pretty much a season of disaster for Allied forces.

Empires in the Balance

The other recommendation is Ian W. Toll's "Pacific Crucible" (2011).  A very engrossing read, the author keeps the reader in the story.  This is book 1 in his Pacific War trilogy but each volume can stand by itself.  Similar in scope to "Empires in Balance", the volume does provide more focus on Japanese politics, inter-service rivalry, and social contexts leading up and during WWII by using numerous Japanese sources, a rare thing in western writings.  Unlike Willmott's book, "Pacific Crucible"  takes the reader through the early US strikes and the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway.  For me at least, the volume also provided new perspectives on Admiral King, the powerful figure at the head of the US wartime navy. 

Pacific Crucible

BattleBus 2020

 Let's go kiddo's.  Getting to School in the Zombie Apocalypse.  

Here we are now going to the South side
I pick up my friends and we hope we won't die
Ride at night, ride through Heaven and Hell 

 and here are some in-progress.  Bus is large and heavy (solid resin) so I worked on using a lazy susan thingy.

Base coat,

Metal coat,

Detailing,

Drive Carefully During the Zombie Apocalypse

 More wrecked vehicles from Antenocitis Workshop.  

Keep your eyes on the road and not the zombies strolling on the sidewalks . . . 

And always wear your seat belt . . . 

Be cautious of locals offering to help and remember your cardio . . .

Rusty Burned Out Vehicles

 Ready for the Zombie Apocalype.  Minis are 28mm sized from Antenocitis Workshop.  The rust was accomplished with weathering powders.  Only paint used was black prime and blue on truck.

I did snap some pictures of the work in progress also.  Took a picture after adding each layer of "rust."  You can see the powder used in each photo. 

Grimy black was applied to the dark windows and along the surfaces around the windows to show soot.

Circa 1812 French Infantry in Greatcoats

 French Infantry unit decked out in greatcoats.

1st Infantry Regiment of Vistula Legion

 

Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard Cavary

 Here are a few squadrons of the Chasseurs a Cheval of the Imperial Guard.  Nice christmas colors just in time for the holidays!  These are AB figs.

Mech Walker Thingy

 Another item painted up recently.  This is a Mech/Walker of some sort.  Actually was a toy rather than a wargaming mini but I guess all in all very little difference between the two designation.  I filled in some open gaps, cut-off a trigger-shootey-mechanism but other than those two minor items, the rest was just painting.   28mm figure included in shots for size reference.  This guy was too big for my macro lens so had to use 35/50mm lens!

"Tremors" Movie Worms

 Painted up some worms from the "Tremors" movie.  28mm Size figure included in shot for size reference.   Manufacturer of these resin models is unknown to me but they were pretty good sculpts.  Poses include bursting through the surface,  out of ground, and dead (not pictured).

ACW Artillery & Crews

 Finished some CSA and USA artillery and crew.  the artillery is just sitting on the crew base so I can switch out 12lbr, 3", 6lbr, and Howitzer pieces.  These are Sash and Saber 28mm figs, nice figs as usual.

Russian Dragoons

 Next up are the Harkiv Dragoons.  This unit was part of the 4th Cavalry Division backing up the Russian center at Borodino.

 

Russian Cuirassiers

 Latest additions to the Napoleonic Russian Order of Battle.  

Military Order Cuirassiers

Ekaterinoslav Cuirassiers

 

The two regiments were part of the 2nd Cuirassier Division backing up the Fleches at Borodino.  

French Chasseurs a Cheval

 French 1st and 2nd Chasseur Regiments.  Both regiments has scarlet regimental color, 2nd had green collars instead of scarlet.  So I've either got two small regiments or they can be put together to form a larger 1st or 2nd Regiment.  These are Battle Honor/OG15 figs.  I haven't used to many of them in my collection as I feel the AB figs are nicer but the OG15 figs are generally more "dynamic" and good in their own right so I mix in a few OG15 units for the tabletop.

Not sure why I posted such a dark image before.  I tend to do that . . . I shouldn't be afraid of the light!

French Line with Artillery

 Finished up some French Line troops and guns.  This time with Battle Honor figs to get some more variety amongst all the Eureka figures.  Here's a sample.

And Union Cav All Mounted Up!

 Again, Sash and Saber minis.

Dismounted Union Cavalry

 These are Sash and Saber 28mm minis.   Need to get some more flags . . . 

Russian Musketeers and Jaegers

Finished up some Russians with greatcoats.  Jaegers up front (dark belts) and Musketeers in the back (white belts).  

UK Commando and Italian Troops

 Finished some UK Commando and Italian troops.  I already have a bunch of British special forces, SAS/SBS types, and German Para and Brandenburger type troops.  These will all be used for battles on Rhodes and Leros and other islands in the Aegean Sea.   Not a lot written about the British Offensive and German counter-offensive but one good book is "Churchill's Folly" by Anthony Rogers.

USA WWII Heavy Weapons

 Worked on some USA machine gun and mortar troops.  Figs are Battlehonors 25's.  I sure could do with a game of FUBAR!  the troops are ready to go.

Cornfields

In anticipation of non-remote wargaming, I'm working on some terrain features for the tabletop.  These two shots show fences I made along with a cornfield.  The corn stalks are 2"  O scale corn stalks are from JTT, trimmed just a little bit and pushed into drill holes in MDF.  The JTT stalks are priced around $12 for either 28 or 32 (can't remember) so that's not too bad.  Minis are 28mm for scale.  

 

King's German Legion 2nd Light Battalion

 Finished up the 2nd Light Battalion KGL.  Pretty much the same as the 1st Light, though sources said they had darker uniforms so I did that.  Not sure how well that shows in the photos.  Sources also identified other minor uniform differences between the 1st and 2nd Light but as I'm using the same sculpts I didn't make those distinctions.

King's German Legion 1st Light Battalion

 Adding to the KGL, here's the 1st Light Battalion.

First pic is the "formed up" battalion and the second pic is the battalion on skirmish bases.