Armies of Afghanistan- Dougies' Painted British

Dougie is back, with a further finished fireteam of British. While it may not have answered my call for different nationalities, they are too gorgeous not to post up!

Over to Dougie...

Second fireteam now complete so I’ve a handy little force to start with, same organisation and weapon mix as the first.

I’ve just ordered some of the latest Brits from Empress as well as the first pack of Dish Dash Talibs to have a crack at.

Later, Dougie

Proving that Dougie isn't just awesome at painting Multi-Cam, here is a Taliban from Eureka that he has painted.

I for one can't wait to see what he makes of our Taliban- don't forget to pick up your set from the Skirmish Sangin website!

Next post is something VERY different....

Pooch

Armies of Afghanistan- Dougie is back for Part 7!

After a while spent incommunicado, Dougie has sent through just a couple of little teaser pictures of the things he is working on. Mainly, that he is finishing up the second fire team he started a wee while back. You should also rejoice that his blog is back updating, if you don't know where to look, head here

First off gotta say sorry for the delay in this update, due entirely to my retirement and holidays with my good lady wife! Any hoo work on the second fireteam has progressed with the flesh and Multicam completed, I’ve just started on the boots so there’s not too much left to do.

I’ve also started a Eureka Talib, nice figures but I must get some DishDash examples!

Dougie

I hope you had a wonderful set of travels Dougie, but I must say that it is nice to have more pictures of that gorgeous multi-cam to grace our blog! Look forward to seeing the next set of Paras finished, as well as their opposition.

Dougie- British Paras continued

In case you were wondering, Dougie has not been idle. He is back, with a little update looking at his next project...

Well folks work has commenced on my second fireteam, same ORBAT as before: from left to right we have a “Tom” standing firing his Minimi, “Tom” with an SA80A2 and a stowed Vallon mine detector, Fireteam leader with SA80A2 and a “Tom” with an SA80A2/UGL combo.

Stonking figures from Empress!

Dougie

Looking forward to seeing these "Toms" with some paint on them!

Peter Tann - Book Review Company Commander

Peter gave us an email about whether we would be interested to read some book reviews from him. Naturally we said yes, here is the first of what we hope will be a series of reviews from him.

Not surprisingly, the current conflict in Afghanistan has led to a large number of books being written  about the experience of operations there. The idea behind this post is to share my opinions on those that I have read and looking at how helpful they can be as a resource for a gamer looking to create scenarios for Skirmish Sangin. Before we start I should say that I am based in the UK, so the majority of what I have read covers British operations in Helmand since 2006. Hopefully, gamers based elsewhere will be encouraged to share their views on books covering their own armed forces' experiences.

I am going to kick off with Company Commander, written by Major Russell Lewis, MC. Lewis was a company commander in 2 Para in 2008 and the book is part journal, part reflection on his six month tour and the demands and challenges of leadership. The book (not surprisingly) focuses on the experiences of Russell and his company, and does not examine the wider context of Western involvement in Afghanistan.

I must say that I found this book very engaging. It is well-written, effectively conveying the intense pressure of COIN operations in the difficult conditions of an Afghan summer and a cagey population that has learnt that often 'facing both ways' is necessary for survival. It also gives a very good insight into the tough, often lonely, responsibilities of command. One example that really stood out was Lewis agonising over whether to call in a MEDEVAC helicopter for three soldiers critically wounded by a suicide bomber. Realising that this could be exactly what the Taliban were hoping he would do and that the LZ, whilst perfect for the helicopter, could not be fully secured, Lewis reluctantly orders the chopper to land at the fire base and that he will bring the soldiers there, even though the delay could be lethal. The soldiers subsequently died at the hospital at Camp Bastion, but the following day a patrol found signs of Taliban activity by the proposed LZ, including an RPGS warhead, vindicating Lewis' hard call.

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How useful is the book as source material for Skirmish Sangin? Set as it is at company level, the larger actions are really beyond the scope of the game. For one 'platoon' level patrol, Lewis actually has upwards of 80 men out on the ground! However, there are many actions which can be broken down into smaller parts which are suitable. For example, Lewis often took a GPMG-heavy Fire Support Group with him on patrol - this often held a static position in a contact to support his manoeuvre elements, so could be considered off-table support. Another action involved searching for and discovering a weapons cache, a four-hour contact as the Paras made their way back to base, an evacuation of a non-battle casualty by Viking, contact on the vehicles, contact on the base, another casualty in the base, a (non-lethal) mine strike on the vehicles as they evacuated the two casualties to the LZ before finally getting them safely away in a helicopter which decided to risk the incoming fire to pick up the injured! Plenty of food for thought there, either as individual scenarios, or maybe even a different type of 'campaign' which links the events of this one battle into a series of smaller games.

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Another aspect of the book is that it throws up many command decisions, which can also be recreated on the tabletop eg do you blast your way into that compound, all guns blazing on Attack State Red? On one patrol, this is exactly what the Paras did. The first two compounds they stormed proved to be empty, so Lewis orders that this be cancelled on the next compound searched. Once inside they discover 13 women and young children! Or do you open fire at the vehicle that is speeding towards your checkpoint? Making the right (or wrong!) decisions in these circumstances could be reflected in the victory points in the scenario, and random events could be introduced, triggered by a dice roll like criticals and fumbles, which the player has to react to.

Five major contacts are described, with useful sketch maps showing the rough layout of the ground and positions of both Taliban and Paras, as well as several smaller ones. One factor that really does emerge is the physically arduous nature of the climate; heat exhaustion really should be considered as a real possibility in a game, and the dreaded D&V as a very unpleasant event in a campaign which can seriously deplete unit strengths and activity!

Overall, I would thoroughly recommend this book. Even though set at company level, there is plenty of information that can, with a little imagination, be adapted for the lower level of Skirmish Sangin. I would also say that the book provides an excellent framework for a campaign, utilising the rules and guidance in Sangin Dispatches No. 1.

  

Dougie - Painting British Part 5- Varnish and Basing

Like some avenging angel, here to remind us what productivity looks like and how we all should be painting rather than writing poorly attempted witty comments on blogs, Dougie is back. And this time, he is here to finish stuff.....

This update will cover varnishing the figure and finished the bases. First off I always use 2 varnishes. The first coat is standard Humbrol gloss poly 35, this is a good protective coat for the paint and also helps unify the colours. The photo shows our figure having had his coat of Humbrol 35.

He then gets a coat of matt, now there’s a load of discussion on painting forums about matt varnish and which is best, I use Daler-Rowney Soluble Varnish Matt, and I’ve never had a problem, it dries dead flat, as below

The next 2 shots show the figure with the base finished, I’ve simply used Silflor 2 tone tufts Late Autumn in 4mm size, his glasses have also been re-glossed.

The last 2 show my first 4 man fireteam.

Lots more to follow!
Dougie

Well. They are simply lovely. That camo has come up really well Dougie- Craig and I have been debating about whether it is a touch bright, but you know what, I quite like it. And it's actually making me wonder if I have made my Auzzies too dark. Well that, and reminding me that I really should buy the whole range of Empress British. Because when painted up like that, they are just awesome.

Any clues for us for what is next?

I really need to get back to painting....

Dougie- Painting British Part 4- Badges/Boots/Weapons/Equipment

Dougie is back again, having given us all a couple of days to try his Multi-cam technique (I did, did you?). He returns to finish off the other elements of the model, guns, boots and badges. All things which if you get right, will really add a cool element to your figures.

First off I’ve painted the uniform badges; I’ve restricted this to jump wings and 3PARA DZ Patch. Here’s a photo of the actual kit, the jump wings are subdued and below them on the Velcro is the green 3PARA DZ patch

Here’s a close up of my version on the figure...

I’ve painted his boots starting with a base of VMC SS Cam Blk Brown 822, then brought the sand coloured boots up using the following colours from dark to light, VMC Cork Brown 843, VMC Tan Yellow 912 and VMC Dark Sand 847.

For modern weapons I’ve never been keen on using metallic colours, so I use a range of Greys running from VMC German Grey 995 to VMC Light Grey 990 and the shades in between.

I then finished off the helmet band, strap, gloves and radio earpiece and boom mike.

This is the front and back views below of the completed figure.

The next update we’ll be varnishing the figure and finishing the base.
Later, Dougie

Dougie - Painting British Part 3- Multicam

I hope you are sitting down in a comfy chair, because Dougie's "How To" guide continues, this time tackling the MTP camo for his Paras. I'm sure everyone who is planning to paint any form of Multicam will find this useful, if only for the techniques he chooses!

Well here’s how I paint MultiCam. At each stage I’ve included front and back views of the figure.

These are the paints I have used...
VMC Medium Grey 987
VMC Buff 976
VMC English Uniform 921
VMC Golden Olive 857
VMC USA Uniform 922
VMC SS Cam Blk Brown 822
VMC Ivory 918
and finally Daler Rowney Acrylic Artists Ink Sepia 251.

It’s an 8 stage process so here goes!

Stage 1 is to paint the whole uniform, body armour and webbing/load carrying equipment in VMC Medium Grey 987. Leave a small amount of black showing at the clothing joins.

Stage 2 is to highlight this colour with VMC Buff 976 as below.

Stage 3 is to lay on the first camo colour, VMC English Uniform 921 in a horizontal pattern, as below

Stage 4 we add VMC Golden Olive 857, again in a horizontal pattern as below

Stage 5 we add smaller areas of VMC USA Uniform 922, as below

Stage 6 we add flecks/swirls of VMC SS Cam Blk Brown 822, as below

Stage 7 is to add flecks/swirls of VMC Ivory 918, as below

Stage 8 is the last stage in my MultiCam method, we use Daler Rowney Acrylic Artists Ink Sepia 251 and a fine brush to line out and edge all joins and uniform seams, as below

It is a bit time comsuming but I’m quite pleased with the result. Next update we’ll be adding uniform detail, so that’s the buckles, Velcro areas and badges/insignia.

Later, Dougie

Dougie- Painting British Part 2- Flesh!

The resident Brit in our Armies of Afghanistan has returned, this time sharing his way of how to paint skin tone.

Hi Folks,
This update will cover how I’m doing the flesh areas on my Brits. Whenever I paint a figure one of the first decisions I make is whether to paint eyes or not. I only really consider this on 28mm figures, anything smaller I normally have the eye sockets as shadow. The last thing you want on a figure is the bug-eyed “popeye” look (it might look a bit silly to have really, really shocked British- Ed so unless you’re confident you can do it don’t bother and paint the eye sockets as dark shadow instead.

The easiest way I’ve found to do it, and there are loads of methods out there, is to paint the eye socket area in your chosen eye colour, dark brown is a good choice, and then dot in the white areas in the very corner of each eye- so 4 in total. You want to get this dot as small as possible, the majority of the eye should be the colour with very small areas of white or off white in the corners. This can take a bit of practice and if they’re not even, or as good as, it won’t look right.

If I’m painting eyes in they are the first thing I do on the face, the Brit model we’re using has shades on but I’ve photographed one of the other guys as well, so you can see what I mean.

Anyway, on to the Flesh. I’ve adapted my 3 colour 20mm method and blended the 3 shades sequentially so we’re looking at about 5 shades on the face.

I’ve used the following 3 colours.
1. Shadow – Vallejo Game Colour 44 Dark Flesh
2. Base Colour – Foundry Flesh Shade 5A
3. Highlight – Vallejo Game Colour 4 Elf Flesh

The method I use is to paint from shadow to highlight in the natural way leaving the darker show shades in the places where the shadows would be, not teaching anyone to suck eggs here you’ll know what I mean if you don’t they’re loads of tutorials on line.

This first Photo shows our guy with VGC 44 added.

Here’s a close up

The next layer is a 50% mix of VGC 44 and Foundry 5A.
Followed by plain 54.
Then a 50% mix of 5A and VGC 4
And finally plain VGC4.
The various shades are layered on going from shadow (Dark) to highlight (Light)

I‘ve then painted in the bottom lip for some contrast using Vallejo Model Color 802 Sunset Red.

A closer view

The photo below shows one of the other guys without the shades

I’m not 100% happy with the eyes, may have to decrease the white areas but you get the idea.

You can also add 5 o’clock shadow if you want to, I haven’t in this case but its easy enough to do, I use a blue grey wash.

That’s it for this update the next one will cover the uniform and the joy that is multicam!

Later, Dougie

AAR - Defend the river crossing

So most of the usual bunch met on Thursday to have a game of Skirmish Sangin.

Ray and Craig chose to play the Taliban this time leaving me to play the British.

The Taliban had two groups of 8 and the ISAF a small 8 man British Para squad. So with forces decided what was the mission.

Well Ray had cooked up a great little mission for us that went something like this.

The British making a large push into the green zone had been reasonably successful until they crossed the river where they where hit by a large force of Taliban. Using their superior air power and close in support they had held the larger Taliban force but not without taking casualties. These casualties now need to be evacuated, with no safe LZ available the decision was made to evacuate by road. Unfortunately this meant crossing the river at the only spot that was currently held by ISAF.

This is where my force came in. My Force had been deployed to defend the river crossing as the main force leap frogged forward.

The Taliban Spies had realised the bottleneck and sent a small force to cut off the line of retreat for the ISAF wounded.

So what did this mean in reality?

Well my chaps had to hold the river crossing for one combat round, 10 combat phases at which point the wounded convoy would enter from the far side of the table. This, ISAF was lead to believe, was a convoy consisting of number of Landrovers protected by a Warrior armoured vehicle.

I got to deploy my troops within 12” of the river (This was an 8 x6” table). And the table got to deploy up to 12” on their side of the table.

So all I had to do was to keep a numerically superior force that came on two flanks at bay for 10 Combat phases. I imagined by Para’s saying something like “ Bring it on” while lighting a nervous cigarette.

I deployed on the north side of the river, keeping the river behind me, to the left in a building and its courtyard on the right in another courtyard to compound. Trying not to be too gamey I only deployed one soldier on the stairs at the beginning of the game and no one on the roof but I did make sure all my chaps had medium cover and where kneeling as the game began.

 

So unfortunately I don’t have a blow-by-blow account but this was a very hard fought game, first blood went to the Para’s with a nicely placed 40mm grenade, quickly followed up with ten rounds of rapid fire but we definitely didn’t have it our own way. Ray’s Taliban kept up a stead level of pressure on the left but were reasonably static, making a slow and steady advance. While on the right, the use of a well placed berm meant that Pooch could split his force and use one lot to try and keep my head down while all the while trying to outflanking me using the berm to hide line of sight as he rushed up his out-flanking force.

This was a hard fought couple of hours, with both sides taking casualties as we came to phase 8 the Para’s looked in good shape, only one casualty. We had been making great armour saving rolls and Taliban damage rolls had been low. We had also managed to reload one of the UGL’s (It takes 3 AP to reload, which means that a man is out of action for a combat phase and I frequently didn’t have time to reload the UGL because of the weight of incoming fire meant I needed him to be firing his armalite). But an AP screw up on my part meant I didn’t get to fire it as the at the two RPG gunners on the roof opposite.

However, it began to slide when Pooch’s RPG gunner managed to blow up two men at the doorway to the compound (The only saving grace was he injured one of his won men in the blast)

Now down to 5 men and with none active in the last two combat phases I took another casualty was then down to 4 men as we reach the last combat action phase. I had made it… but only just. ISAF had managed to hold a very determined Taliban force for one combat round. Now the convoy would arrive and I still had possession of the crossing even though I was besieged on all sides.

That’s where we stopped the game as it was getting late and we hope to complete the mission next week.

I’ll let you know how we get on.