Insurgents Competition - Results!

Our competition celebrating the release of our first four Taliban (details on how to buy some here) ended last week, and after some time taken to collate all of the results, we have been left with no less than 8 entrants who will be sent a pack of our four brand new Taliban miniatures to add to their forces!

So these are the first four Taliban, painted by Craig. The next wave of Taliban will be available VERY soon (we will let you know, don't worry!), and they will be followed by yet another wave of Taliban after that. After all, what is a game in Afghanistan without some cracking good Taliban miniatures?

Below are just some of the awesome pictures that we were sent of Insurgents painted by people out there in the Sangin Community!

First up is two Empress Miniatures Taliban Motorcyclists, by Steve E. You have to admire the lovely blue and red bikes, such a good contrast to the more muted colours of the riders.

Spyros has sent some Empress Taliban, he has opted for an interesting combination of muted browns, punctuated with some brighter whites and blues. Like before, we have a cool blue motorcycle- Am I sensing a theme?

James of Scotland has sent through two close ups of some Empress Taliban. One rocking a splendid blue dishdash, which I am unashamedly going to copy for my Call to Arms Taliban.

"Can you hear me now? No I don't want to upgrade my long distance plan. All I want is some mortar support! Don't you dare put me on hold!"

Darren has sent through a picture of what can only be described as a horde of Empress Taliban! Those are some lovely browns and yellows on the cloth, Darren has done a cracking job on them!

Pat sent through not just pictures of his Taliban, but also a picture of them in a game! He assured me that the Taliban were completly victorious. Or maybe they weren't, but I choose to remember it as a glorious victory for the Taliban forces!

Check out those sweet sneakers on the sniper!

Matt H has sent through a miniature from Battlefield Evolution, from Mongoose Publishing. Now I can't seem to be able to find the miniatures anywhere (although, clearly I need to try harder). He has painted him up as a member of ISIS, although Matt has complained that he looks too "ninja", I think the black clothing works well!

Peter T went with a different manufacturer, option to bring Taliban from The Assault Group. Peter has done a great job with them, including the Osama figure! Operation Geronimo anyone?

And rounding out our winners this time is some cool 20mm Taliban from Underfire Miniatures, sent through to us by Carvel. Not only did we get cool pictures of the 20mm Taliban, but what Carvel did with the Renedra building is awesome too! I have been resisting 20mm, but Carvel is slowly breaking me down.....

A huge thanks to all those who sent us pictures, we always enjoying seeing what those in the Sangin Community are up to with their games. Don't forget that we are always looking for more content for our books and our blog, After Action Reports, articles, things you have painted, or even just to tell us how awesome we are, don't hesitate to drop us an email, we look forward to hearing from you!

Pooch

Call to Arms Preperation- Javelins and Maths

We are just finalising our Insurgent competition, it will be up here on the blog by the end of the week!

Today's Call to Arms post is a look at the Javelin missile, and at a bit of simple maths.

The FGM-148 Javelin Missile is a US made, man portable anti-tank missile. Guided by a laser, the Javelin is a fire-and-forget weapon, once it has it's target the operator does not need to continue to guide the missile as they would with earlier missiles such as the TOW or Dragon.

You made the sound effect, didn't you.....

One of the cooler things about the Javelin is that it either can be used in a direct attack mode- flying straight into the target, or it can use a top attack mode, flying high, then coming down vertically onto the target. The top attack is designed to defeat the weaker top armour of a tank, as opposed to trying to take on the tank's heavier frontal armour.

According to the fountain of all knowledge, known to mortals as Wikipedia, the Javelin has been used in Afghanistan to:

During the War in Afghanistan, the Javelin was used effectively in counter-insurgency (COIN) operations. Initially, soldiers perceived the weapon as unsuited for COIN operations due to its destructive power, but trained gunners were able to make precision shots against enemy positions with little collateral damage. The Javelin filled a niche in U.S. weapons systems against DShK heavy machine guns and B-10 recoilless rifles; weapons like the AT4 and M203 had good effects but insufficient range, medium and heavy machine guns and grenade launchers had greater range but insufficient effects, and heavy mortars had good range and effects but poor precision. The Javelin, as well as the TOW, had enough range, power, and accuracy to counter standoff engagement tactics employed by enemy weapons. With good locks, the missile is most effective against vehicles, caves, fortified positions, and individual personnel; if enemies were inside a cave, a Javelin fired into the mouth of the cave would destroy it from the inside, which was not possible from the outside using heavy mortars. The psychological effect of the sound of a Javelin firing sometimes caused insurgents to disengage and flee their position. Even when not firing, the Javelin's CLU was commonly used as a man-portable surveillance system

So that is the Javelin, on to the simple maths.

The Javelin has an effective firing range of 75 to 2500 metres. In the Skirmish Sangin rules, the range equates to a maximum range of 1250" and a minimum range of 35". It was Craig who pointed out that the tables we will use at Call to Arms are 4 feet square, or 48" by 48". If you look at the minimum range of the Javelin compared to the table size, it looks like this:

The yellow spot in the corner is the Javelin gunner, and the grey area represents the area on the board which he is unable to target the enemy with the Javelin, due to it being within his minimum range! So in short, if you bring a javelin to a knife fight, you aren't going to be shooting it!

Now, what does that mean for my Australian list?

Well, primarily that I don't think I will bring a Javelin. To use it with any effectiveness on a smaller table like the 4x4 ones at Call to Arms will take a serious amount of forward planning on my part, and no small amount of luck. Plus, now I have put it's major weakness online on a blog which I assume is read by all of the people entering the competition, who now all know exactly how to defeat the weapon in a game of Sangin.....

But what to replace it with?

Looking at my Australian figures, there were a few options.

Option One:
Drop the quality of some of my Australians, and bring a third fire-team. Tempting, because it would give me a lot of numbers, which would more than shock a few of these Taliban forces who are counting on outnumbering the ISAF forces!

I am not so keen on this one, mainly because it is another 4 guys I would need to paint. Could I do it? Probably. Is it the best option? Probably. Am I going to go for it? No.

Option Two:
By dropping the quality of some of the Auzzies, it would free me up some points to bring their transport, a Bushmaster vehicle. A bit of armour, some firepower, but like the extra fire team, a bit more painting than I think I can do before next weekend. Plus my Taliban are already bringing a technical, so I don't want to be accused of repetition!

Pictured: Option One and Two, looking completely unpainted! Crikey that Bushmaster is a bright white resin....

Which leaves Option Three:
I could replace my two man weapons team, with another two man team. Heavy machinegun is an option, but I lack a good fixed MG model, one that looks different than my 2 Minimi gunners (because I will forget it is a gun team if it isn't!).
The most appealing option for me is to replace my 2 man javelin team with a 2 man sniper team. For those who were looking closely yesterday, they would have actually spied the sniper lurking in the background of the photo. I have got the camo done, and last night I did the undercoat on all the Auzzies' boots and skin. And did no painting on the Taliban. But I am still making progress right?

The sniper is the standard figure from Empress, but I was short a single Auzzie helmet (even after the guys at Empress gave me some more!), but with a brain wave, I remembered I had some spare USMC heads wearing boonie hats! While it is not a slouch hat, it looks more than suitable for an auzzie sniper in my mind!

So the Sniper Team will be Two Veteran Australians (150) wearing Body Armour (20) with a Sniper Rifle (10) and an Assault Rifle (10). I had ten points spare in my basic list, so I have enough points left to give them both a grenade each as well.

Right, back to painting. Hoping to have some progress with these guys tomorrow, and really need to have some progress with the Taliban. And wasn't I building a technical?

Pooch

Call to Arms preparation- Progress?!

The Insurgent painting competition has closed! We are collating all of the images which were sent in now. We will show them off, along with announcing our winners later this week. A big thanks to all those who entered, keep an eye out for the images!

As for my Call to Arms forces....

All of the Australians had made the painting table, unfortunately the two fire-team leaders have lost the aerials for their backpack radios.

As a simple solution, I used a drill, greenstuff and a spare metal pike from one ancients army or another (I mainly use these to pin with), to make some radio aerials for my fire-team leaders.

While not as perfect as the aerials that Empress provide, these will be a whole lot less fragile, and will still look the part.

Now as to painting, this is where I have got to so far on the Australians:

All of them have their camo done, now it is just skin, weapons, detailing and basing.

Here is a close up of one of the squad leaders, showing off how the Crye camo currently looks:

I am hoping to get the detailing done this week.

And as for the Taliban?

Well, progress is being made, all of them have got the base colours done on their clothing, now I need to ink/highlight that, then do the skin, weapons, webbing, beards etc.

And I still haven't started on the technical.

But still, progress is progress!

Call to Arms preperation- Pooch's Taliban Army List

Time has almost run out on the Insurgent painting competition, last chance to get your entries in!

Yesterday I posted up my plans for my Australian force for the first Skirmish Sangin Tournament at Call to Arms in just two weeks time.

For the tournament, you have to provide both an ISAF and a Taliban force, to game over the weekend. With my ISAF sorted, I need to sort out my Taliban list.

I find making a Taliban list a lot harder than making an ISAF force- basically because an ISAF force writes itself! With strict fire team organisations, high points costs and limited options, the 1000 point lists all have a similar base.

Not so for Taliban. The only impositions Colin put on me were:

- 1000 points
- No off table assets

All in all, pretty darn flexible!

Colin also sent out the forthcoming Taliban ORBAT to the competitors (released very soon in Despatches II), but I have decided to keep my force simple and from the main rule book. Don't worry, I am sure during the reports of the tournament some snippets of what is in the forthcoming ORBAT will be revealed!

I decided to give myself one more rule- that I am not going to include any IEDs or Booby Traps. Mainly because last time I had a game with Colin, he told me a Taliban force needed them to win. Wanting to prove Colin wrong and because I am an argumentative sod, they are out.

After all of my self imposed restrictions, what does that leave me with? Well, lots actually. When making a Taliban force, I like a mix of qualities, and a mix of cool upgraded guys, as well as having some novices with AKs (who can be scarily effective, as Craig H found out!).

But the first step I need an inspirational leader for the force.

I have opted for a Veteran, with an AK and the Warrior Imam upgrade package.

The other Taliban upgrade package I will use in the force is the Sword of Allah, giving a massive bonus to rifle skill to one of my fighters. I will put this on a veteran armed with a Sniper Rifle. Hopefully I will roll a high BODY rating, giving him a very high Rifle skill, combined with a 4d10 damage weapon will help me punch through the ISAF Body Armour!

Next, I will add some heavy weapons in the form of two Average Taliban with RPG's. No Taliban force would ever leave home without an RPG or two, they are just so darn effective! With 6d10 damage if it hits, 1 d10 damage if it hits near you, the RPG is one of the great levellers that the Taliban have against the ISAF. After adding another Average Taliban, this time with a PKM, it will give me another guy firing with a 4d10 damage weapon.

Not wanting to have lots and lots of heavy weapons, it was time to bulk out the force with some normal Taliban with the good ol' AK. 1 Veteran, 2 Average and 5 Novices will fit the bill nicely!. While you might look at the humble AK you may think that it will only have a limited effect (2d10 damage against 1d10+4 body armour) especially in the hands of a novice with a rifle skill ranging between 32% and 50%. But, this is a dice game, and having a lot of AKs will have a much greater effect. They might not all the time, but sometimes, they will! (That's right. 50% of the time, they work everytime....)

The last thing I am going to add to the list is a technical. The technical should give my Taliban a mobile firebase, capable of zooming around and causing mayhem with the heavy machine gun mounted on the back. Either that, or it will get slotted by a Javelin or AT-4 before it gets an opportunity to do anything. Either way, it is going to be entertaining! The technical is also a good opportunity for me to finish a piece of modelling I started a while ago, converting up one of the Airfix Landrovers into a Taliban technical. I am going to put a .50 cal HMG on the back, mainly because that is the weapon I have spare!

Now, I eluded to yesterday how much painting I had left to do on my Australians. Now, if I was intelligent, I would use my already painted Empress Miniatures Taliban. But given I am clearly not intelligent person, I have decided that this is a good opportunity to get my Eureka Miniatures Taliban painted.

So, this is where they are at:

Yep, definitely ready to go

Plus I haven't built the technical fully yet.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have an update with some painting. Right, enough blogging, now I really have to paint!

Pooch

Call to Arms preperation- Pooch's ISAF Army List

DON'T FORGET TO SEND US PICTURES OF YOUR INSURGENTS FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A SET OF OUR BRAND NEW TALIBAN MINIATURES! ENTRIES CLOSE VERY SOON.......

The first Skirmish Sangin tournament is only a few weeks away at Call to Arms in Wellington, New Zealand. I managed to win the rock/paper/scissors competition between the three writers, and so get the opportunity to play, while the other two are being the generals for the ISAF and Taliban sides and have to organise the whole thing, while I just get to have fun playing games (suckers).

In keeping with my traditional style with tournaments, I have only organised myself two weeks from the start. Having now sent my entry, the first port of call is making a list.

Deciding on which ISAF force to take was difficult, too many cool ideas, too many cool lists, Royal Marine Commandos, Afghan National Police, SAS, Kiwis, DEVGRU, Parajumpers..... But in the end, I have opted to bring my Australians. It will be a good wee kick to get them done, the Empress models have been sitting half done on my table for a while, so getting them finished will be a double bonus.

An Australian armed with an HK417 with some locals in the Urzgan province

This is what I plan to bring for my 1000 point list....

Veteran- F88,1 Grenade
Average- F88 with UGL, 1 Grenade
Average- Minimi, 1 Grenade
Veteran- HK417, 1 Grenade

Veteran- F88, 1 Grenade
Average- F88, 1 Grenade
Average- Minimi, 1 Grenade
Veteran- HK417, 1 Grenade

Veteran 2-man Javelin Team

So two standard fire teams, and support from a Javelin team. With a mix of Veteran and Average soldiers this would represent an Auzzie force towards the end of their deployment, supported by the Javelin to do some serious compound clearing! To make it easy on myself to remember, I gave everyone a grenade, otherwise I would very quickly get confused as to who had thrown what.

The HK417 is a Designated Marksman Rifle, so I will use the stats for the Light Support Weapon (LSW) found in Despatches I, doing 3d10 damage at a range of 600m (300").

And with that, I have a list.

But how ready are they to go? Er... Let's just say they aren't painted.

The two fireteams have got most of their camo done, the Javelin team is undercoated. All of them need a fair bit more work done. So I had better get cracking! Tomorrow, I will show my plans for a Taliban list, and hopefully will have done some painting on these Australians....

Pooch

Insurgents Competition ending soon!

Entries have been rolling in for our Taliban competition, both in 20 and 28mm and from a variety of manufacturers.

We have been really impressed with what we have received, so keep them coming in!

You have until the end of the month to get your pictures in to us. All you need to do is to send us a picture of your painted insurgent models, then we will collate them all and then get them put up on the Skirmish Sangin blog. We will be choosing our winners at random too, so make sure you get your pictures to us!

All the details you need are here, so get your entries in!

Chris

The Germans side of the battle of the Arms Cache

As promised, here are Craig H's images from the game we had last week.

Below: So this is what it looked like from the german edge of the table, crops and compounds everywhere.

Below: The early German moves were to secure the first compound and get their Marksmen on the roof, ably supported by his team members as they secured the first building.

Below: The marksman scanned looking for  the enemy but failed his spot roll. Unfortunately he was too mush of a target and was killed with a RPG round from the Taliban in the corn/poppy field

BELOW: In the meantime the Taliban Olympic sprint champion had crossed 36" of terrain to move into hand to hand combat with the German NCO. A vicious fight ensued that went on for a while.

BELOW: On the opposite side of the table the Germans were gaining ground, fast moving toward the second building, Each man covering the other.

BELOW: Unfortunately one German was a little too eager and was hit, his team mate quickly running up to administer first aid, rolls a 00 a fumble, so he actually made the wound worse and the screaming German now made everybody in his team take Morale rolls.... they made them as they are made of stern stuff.

BELOW: In the middle of the table, the more cautious Germans used all available cover to move towards the enemy.

Unfortunately that's all the images we have, but the Germans did well for over 3/4 of the battle when eventually their casualties began to tell, as they moved men to the rear for CASEVAC. It was a narrow victory for the Taliban.