20mm Moderns

 I was on the Modern Miniature Warfare FB the other day and got chatting about 20mm moderns. The OP was asking about how it looked versus 28mm, so I offered to take some pics of a few of my models. Taking advantage of today's sunshine (a bit too bright but given the pretty grim 'summer' weather thus far, I'm not complaining!), I had a quick photoshoot and here they are. Backdrops are from John Hodgson's Sci-Fi backdrops book.

First up I set up a Chechnya scene, with Russian troops advancing through the ruins of Grozny. All figures are from Liberation Miniatures, which sadly seems to have ceased trading. This is a real shame. Not only was Rolf's modern range enormous and very competitively priced, he was a really nice guy to do business with. The figures are meant to represent an MVD (Interior Ministry) unit - pictures from the time show soldiers in a real mish-mash of uniforms, so the figures are painted up in various different approximations of the camo suits worn at the time. The BTR80s are also Liberation Miniatures, cast in resin with metal turrets. Two are armed with the standard 14.5mm MG turret and one is a BTR80A with a 30mm cannon.

Street-level view of the head of the column

Overhead view of the Command element

Lead APC and section with Command element to the left

Rear section and APC coming up behind the Command element

The whole unit - probably wondering where the Chechen 'wolf-packs' are!

Drone feed of the advancing column!

Next up is a die-cast T80 with ERA. Can't remember who made this - I know I got it online and that it only cost about £5! Not as detailed as a plastic kit, but at that price and from a couple of feet on the table, it more than does the job. The infantry are again Liberation Miniatures, this time two Motor Rifle infantry. The tank commander is also from Liberation Miniatures.

As it was a sunny day I also thought I should take a couple of snaps of my Afghan British. The vehicle in the rear is a Mastiff MRAP - a real beast of a machine! It is a resin model originally produced by Britannia and now available from Grubby Tanks. The Warrior MICV is a plastic Revell kit with a Liberation Miniatures commander. Whilst a lovely kit the barrel of the Rarden cannon is very thin and broke off some time ago. It has been replaced by a metal cannon that comes with Grubby Tanks' Warrior kit - Andy very kindly sold me just a the barrel to replace the broken one. It is noticeably thicker, but significantly more robust.

The figures 2nd and 4th from left in the first picture are both Britannia Miniatures British infantry, again now sold by Grubby Tanks. They are most suitable for the early years of Operation Enduring Freedom and they work very well with Liberation Miniatures in terms of size and style. In this picture they are next to two SOF figures from Elheim Miniatures. They work well enough together; I would say the Elheim figures are a bit slimmer and more detailed, crisper casts, but the Britannia Miniatures do have a certain old-school charm!

You can really see the size of the Mastiff in this picture

Finally, I set up a VIP security detail - figures are all Elheim once again and the cars are re-painted toy cars from Poundland - one of the joys of gaming in 20mm! 

Dark Ages pics

 Well, as mentioned in a previous post, real life makes for an erratic posting schedule! However, as I am now on a bit of a break, I can start catching up and posting on here.

These are all various Dark Ages figures in 28mm that were actually completed a while ago but never posted, so here they are. Backdrops as ever from John Hodgson.

Firstly, we have some Roman-British by Footsore Miniatures - lovely figures that really capture that sub-Roman society on the wane feeling! I have been a fan of the Arthurian 'period' ever since I read Bernard Cromwell's Warlord Chronicles, but for me these figures are more reminiscent of the figures in Patrick McCormack's novels. These books are a fantastic read (sadly the third in the series was never published but is available as a free download), set in a Britain several decades after the calamitous battle of Camlann, with clashes between Picts, Britons and Irish Raiders. It combines these with flashbacks to the time of Arthur, a golden age full of promise that ultimately went unfulfilled. Well worth the asking price! For gaming this period I use the Dux Britanniarum rules from Too Fat Lardies.

    

My favourite figure in the range and arguably, one of my favourite figures in any period, full stop! He represents Bedwyr, the last of Arthur's Companions. In McCormack's novels he is a fearsome fighter, and for me this figure projects a real sense of menace and barely restrained violence! In Dux Britanniarum he will be a Champion.

Six Romano-British Warriors. In Dux Britanniarum, they will be Elite Comanipulares, but in bigger games they will probably become leaders of other groups of Warriors.

And here they are joined by Bedwyr

Finally a picture of the leaders of the Warband. From L to R we have Cei 'The Long Man', the Lady Gwenhwyvar, Bedwyr, and Derfel Cadarn 'The Mighty'

Next up are Vikings from Gripping Beast. These are some of the oldest miniatures in my collection, having been bought decades ago when Gripping Beast had a shop in Richmond (I think?) and WHAB Shield Wall was first released. As such, they needed a bit of a spruce up, so I have re-based them and in several cases re-done the paint job. Not my finest work but they look alright on the tabletop from a couple of feet!

These Vikings are represent Jomsvikings, warrior-monks cum mercenaries who were probably an apocryphal creation of the Sagas! Still they look cool, and who doesn't like a bunch of tooled up mercs masquerading as monks.

As an indication of how old these are, they are all on square bases for Warhammer Ancient Battles. They have been put on a Warbases sabot skirmish base 

More Jomsvikings

Both groups of Jomsvikings facing off against 'ordinary' Vikings

Same two groups in front of a different backdrop. Obviously they have just come ashore for some kind of religious retreat!

A close up of the Command group

I also have some 'ordinary' Vikings, also by Gripping Beast and bought at the same time as the Jomsviking figures.

A repeat of the pic above, this time with the focus on the group of Vikings in the foreground. Banners and shields are all transfers from LBMS

The same group as above from the front

A second group, this time with some Dane-axe wielding Vikings and a Raven banner, in front of two different John Hodgson backdrops