First look at Seven Days to the River Rhine

 A couple of Fridays ago I had an opportunity to paint or try out the rules for 7dttrr.

I chose to game.

I only had two to three hours from set-up to pack-away.

The game was a first attempt so was a rough set up.

German forces on the lower edge

Germans 17 and British 13 dice

The British forces consisted of:-

Command vehicle with senior officer

1 platoon of infantry with 3 Bedford trucks

2 sections of infantry

2 PIATs

2 scout cars

3 Tanks (Grants)

Grants and scout car

Section on hill with scout car

  

platoon in houses and wood with trucks command vehicle and senior officer

The German forces:-

1 Commander with truck

One platoon of infantry with 3 Maultiers

2 sections of infantry with Sdz

1 Puma scout car

1 scout car

4 Pnz 4s

1 flak wagon

1 anti-tank

The British defended the town with one platoon with 3 trucks, the commander and his command vehicle.

The other two sections were posted on the other other road close to a farm, hill and the main road. They had one PIAT.

The other PIAT was central behind a hedge

The general idea was for the Germans to capture the town, and commander of the British forces if possible. and push on to reach the main road above.

German right wing 

Three sdz's with mounted infantry sections preceded by the Puma scout vehicle.

Next to them is the reserve of 4 Panzer 4s the command vehicle and a flak wagon.

German left wing

German left wing with scout car and 2 sdz's with mounted infantry sections.

Both the left and right wings advanced.

The British moved the infantry section off the hill into the nearby building and bringing the PIAT slightly forward.

The German right wing advanced and the British infantry section chanced a shot and brewed-up the Puma.

The right wing Germans advanced and, likewise, had their scout car destroyed by a lucky shot.

Both shots were at the extreme of their range

Right wing scout car destroyed

left wing scout car destroyed

That was a bit rough!

Should I deploy the infantry and go on foot?

I decided that the panzers would advance.

On the second advance they were skirting the wood when partisans made a successful attack!

That was a turning point and I ended the game mainly due to the time.

There was plenty to like even though it seemed a quick kill game.

I played the rules as written and chose to have the armour as light which hastened the demise of the scout cars and panzer. The other reason was the rules give each section the ability to use whatever equipment was deemed appropriate to engage the enemy. That in cold war terms means carl gustav anti-tank and similar.

I should have discounted this and only allowed the supporting PIATS to have the armour penetrating ability. I intend to restrict infantry to their usual weaponry in future games.

Why 7DTTRR instead of Bolt Action? I didn't want to get bogged down with individual armour ratings and weapon capabilities and such.

I am going to be using Bolt Action with the 28mm forces I've built.

I was pleased but wanted twice as long to game.

Next time hopefully

 

It feels like a £500 lottery win!

 Hi! I was lucky enough to get one hour of painting in the other day as the little one had one and a half hours sleep just after his lunch. 

It was bliss!

I used what paints I had. The flesh colour was very light, not my usual Ungor flesh. All the figures got face and the exposed parts of their bodies done.

I also did the clothes on three figures of the soldiers in blue.

One or two of the Japanese civillians had white parts painted as did the priest.

Whwn the little one woke I showed him the figures and he watched a while. Then the fingure wandering and lizard tongue fastness if the hand snatch started.

End of painting sessession.

But it felt marvellous, even the initial minutes if showing him.

I didn't promise endless war in his future but you never know.....

The plan has gone awry

 I came to the States with a plan and successfully undercoated most of the figures I brought with me. I also used different colours on some figures, greys, green, white, brown. Just to see what difference it makes.

Why didn't I finish undercoating all? Grandson!

Have you ever tried doing something with a two year old in proximity? They love to 'HELP'. All those little nudges and those very fast grabbing fingers!

I'm still going to paint them come what may though my sanity might suffer.

Full circle

 A few days ago I joined the ranks of the septuagenarians. Yes, I'm now 70 years old.

And now I've gone full circle from playing with toy soldiers aged 7, Airfix and Timpo, to playing with toy soldiers aged 70 (too many manufacturers to mention!).

But now I play in a more structed way and at a more comfortable height than on the floor.

I still recall that day in the Library when I came across Charge! or how to play wargames. It was meant to be.

Wargaming can, and for me has mostly been, be a hobby for a lifetime. From those first days and then two decades of life to coming back and gaming for 40+ years

I should be culling my games and figures but it seems I'm gaining more each year.

I got a  couple of wargaming presents from my boys. It was after a lovely meal with all three on my birthday. One good thing about more figures is the painting. I enjoy it more than when I first started out.

Wargames Foundry ECW Sergeants with a freebie Roman

You can never have to much scenic pieces

The ECW figures will be ideal for the Witchin' Hour and the scenics for any game. They can be used for ceremonial occasions in later periods. A bit like the Swiss Guard or similar ceremonial units.

They are packed away for taking with me.

Off once again to Florida to meet up with my fantasy and sci-fi material. Let's see where that takes us.

Ronin

 In my search for suitable figures for the theatre I came across these figures from Woo Foo on etsy (samurai-villagers-28mm):-

They are lovely looking figures with nice detail. 

I especially like the two men bearing loads and the woman grinding/ making pottery?

Obviously the musician and dancer with the fans are the primary focus but the other figures will add interest to any town/village setting.

To be honest. I was somewhat worried about the fact the feet are so small on some figures, the musician, dancer and woman with the parasol. We will see of robust they are over time.

Don't expect them to be painted too soon. I will likely take them to the US and paint them there when I get some time.

I don't have many figures to paint. The Austrians are nearly finished as are the cultists from crooked dice.

I won't likely see the Kickstarter figures from Crooked Dice (crooked-dice.co.uk) or Bad Squiddo (badsquiddogames.com) until I'm back in March 2026.

Let us see. I have a little under 2 weeks to complete things before flying.

Thanks for dropping by.

Ronin

It isn't often I'm shocked but I've just built a building I've had since 2017. I'm not sure why it took so long. 

With this model I thought it important to add some colour. It's an important building. A place for staging plays and perhaps music also.

I based it a little on the Noh stages I looked up. Though it is to a different configuration, over all the basic stage looks the same design.

Luckily, I kept a piece that filled the front of the stage. I used it for the backdrop. Normally these are plain wood colour with a Japanese pine tree. Because the wood colour I used was somewhat darker than typically used I painted it a green for a pasture/hills and blue for some sky.

The other buildings are from 4ground which don't seem to be available any longer.

I added all the figures I have to the scene so there are a lot of Ronin, Samurai and villagers. The village itself looks large with the new building. Yes, I know I need a temple and, and, and .......

TT Combat Kiyomori Stage 

Front without backdrop

backdrop

From the front with backdrop

All the miniatures coming to the theatre

I hope you like the scene.

This is why on leadadventureforum I'm looking for suitable figures to set the scene with musicians and performers.

This is why I don't buy a lot of items at wargames shows!

I flit from one thing to another as the fancy takes me and paint figures as they come. Having said that, I haven't quite finished the Austrians for Blücher there being about 75 left.

But I am painting the four female cultists from crooked-dice !

And I'm backing badsquiddogames and crooked-dice on Kickstarter. I'm not going all in as I don't think I need THAT many figures because I really want a miller, baker and fishmonger for Witchin' Hour and the figures for the stage above.

Thank you for dropping by to take a look

I've been busy pt2

Here are the small forces of Early war German and British for Bolt Action I painted recently.

I'm not too fond of the plastics and my painting of them is less than optimal to say the least! 

And those Wargames Atlantic figure, while adequate, are not for me. I don't think they fit well. At least, mine don't.

But it's a minor project that is likely only to get a little bigger. The only reason it's likely to get a little bigger is because I made the mistake of building three figures with PIATs! Obviously, I might need a Panzer 3, 38T and or some armoured vehicles like the Hanomag or Puma. And all because of PIATs.

That isn't the only mistake I made. On a whim whilst in the local FLGS I saw the support section boxes for both nations and bought them. Then I found that they were later war versions. What to do? Use them as early war was the only option. Similar, but different. But not that different.

And I gave each section a 2" mortar when only the platoon HQ had one.

I was fortunate that my son bought four British riflemen from Empress games, which I was going to use for A VBCW, which are added to the British. I can use the whole British force for that game also now of course. Bonus!

It seems odd to me thinking of the LMG section for the British that they don't have a number two in the WA box. No bags or boxes of bren gun magazines. Even one arm with a magazine would have worked.

British

My little mistakes

Three PIATS and two additional 2" mortars. May count as reinforced platoon if heavily engaged

German

MG34 on the left and kneeling figure with ammo box