Force on Force test game/Progress at a standstill

My friend James came over this weekend, and after a night of drinking Coke and watching "The Dictator", this morning James recommended we try Force on Force. This is my first Force on Force game in a while (I tried it with Brody, and things went over smoothly), but it's also my first "game" in the Yugoslav Wars era.

The usual table setup. Let's call it, "Foograd"

James's Croats. He's lucky, because he gets Chuckov Norrisavic. Maybe he will get another defense die...

My Bosnians.

Turn 1: James

James sneakily disperses throughout the town. Yes, there is the Challenger in the background, but he won't be using that in this game.

Turn 2: Me

I begin to advance on the town of Foograd. 

Turn 3: James

James moves one of his guys up onto the roof of a house. And takes a shot at my squad. I pass the reaction test and the turn goes as normal. 

Turn 4: Me

I take cover behind a little ridge near a treeline.

James reacts to my movement by attempting to inflict a casualty on one on me, but he fails in doing so.

Turn 5: James

James cleverly moves the same rooftop shooter to a window. He attempts to inflict a casualty on on me.

I react by moving out of the way, and preparing to assault where 2 of James's soldiers, one being Captain Petrovic.

Turn 6: Me

I launch my assault and fire at Captain Petrovic. He obtains a serious wound.

I take control of the building. 

Turn 7: James

James bugs out of the building first chance he gets. Wise choice...

Turn 8: Me

I begin to assault the building where James's "rooftop shooter" is. 

We ended the game after that and ate lunch. This is the first Bosnian-Croat game I've done, let's hope there are more in the future. Stay tuned!

Painted Bosnian/Croatian soldiers with M56 Helmets from Elhiem

While I've been enjoying the 3rd Coldplay album, X&Y (which I got in the mail a few days ago), I've also been painting those Yugoslav Wars soldiers

Really good album, one of their best in my opinion.

Anyway, here's the fireteam as a whole.

Sergeant Helmitavic looking good in his camo.

Corporal Kovac is actually the only "Bosnian" in this fireteam. I painted the Bosnian Fleur-De-Lise on his shoulders and the front of his helmet. The others (aside from the one below) are non-biased and don't have a set side.

This guy is a Croat. If you can see, I've painted the Croatian šahovnica on his helmet (on the other side as well). 

And this guy in full camo.

My Bosnian/Croatian force is up to 8 troops. I should be getting more in the future, so stay tuned!

A preview of Elhiem's East German fireteam

Today was my first day of school, which I'd rate it a 8/10. A big thanks to the Peer Leaders of Belfast Area High School (along with the teachers) for their help for the freshman's first day! Making the whole first day thing less sucky and confusing.
Ah, anyway, when I got home I opened the mailbox to find my Elhiem East German firesquad there, so I brought them in and prepped them for their photo debut. Enjoy!

The fireteam from the C/O to the second-in command, to the other 2 men (how I usually do it).

The fireteam leader. We'll call him, "Sergeant Bob Helmitavic"

Sergeant Helmitavic's second in command, Corporal Csaba Kovac (alright, enough of the naming, I only tend to name the ones in command).

A look at the equipment they've got on their backs (you should be able to zoom in).

Here they are with spackling on their bases, which is how I base them now.

I like their helmets, the M56 is actually one of my favorites, but Ben of Ben's Soldiers disagrees. Ah well. These probably wouldn't suit Serbs, but rather Bosnians and Croats partially because of the helmet, which I don't think was used by Serbia.
I should have these painted up rather soon, I'll make sure to do paint them before school gets to hectic. Stay tuned!

Once in a blue moon...

Even though the 31st was the Blue Moon, which we'll get in another 3 years or so, last I performed at the Mermaid Inn in nearby Searsport.
My friend James video taped it, but sadly I can't upload it (I did covers of "In My Place" and a few others).
Anyway, a few days ago I ordered another set from Elhiem. It's the new East German riflemen in M56 Helmets, setting up for my Siege of Mostar game.

Very high quality.

 I should be getting these sometime this week. Stay tuned!

First of the Yugoslav Wars infantry painted up

While I've been enjoying the last few days of summer, I've also been painting up the Yugoslav Wars infantry I got from Platoon 20.
I thought I'd show what they look like all painted up. Enjoy!

The fireteam as a whole.

Chuckov Norrisavic, the soldier I'll be rooting for on the battlefield. You might notice he's wearing some sneakers for going into battle. If you're going to get shot in the face, you might as well go out in style.

Captain Petrovic, looking stoic. 

A figure with an AK74u. 

And here they are showing off their equipment. 

I should probably be getting some more miniatures in the future, I think I'll get some Serbs this time, but they're on eBay and they'll probably ship from England, which is always fun waiting for them (oh goody).
I might also get a couple of sets, one just to tide me over as I get back into the "school groove".
Stay tuned!

Platoon 20 Yugoslav Wars Generic Infantry preview

My first troops for the Yugoslav Wars have arrived! This is more of a generic militia, and it could probably apply to any of the 3 armies during the war.
These are some great looking miniatures from Platoon 20, although I got them from the U.S. company that sells them.
Anyway, enough of my yammering, let's get to the preview!

In Force on Force rules, this should make up about a fireteam or so.

This is who I'll assign to my squad leader, he just looks like one to me. Also, it's just my favorite pose.

Nice bandanna!

This figure appears to be wearing a flak jacket, which adds another defense die in Force on Force.

This guy is being smart and ducking.

Here's the back just so you can see what they look like turned around, just if anyone is interested in picking this set up.

I may do a camouflage painting guide, showing you guys how to paint M81 Woodland camouflage. Stay tuned!

Today's order

I've been working for the money to buy some miniatures for my new Yugoslav Wars era.
Today, I went over to Syr-Hobbs Wargames and bought a generic 4-man infantry set from Platoon 20.

The code on the Platoon 20 Website is M-BW1, if anyone is interested.

Syr-Hobbs is normally pretty good on shipping time, and luckily it's U.S.-based so it should be here within a week and half or so.
I will do a preview (as I normally do) of the miniatures before I paint them when they get here.
Stay tuned!

Status Report (August 12, 2012)

I've been looking around for some miniatures and doing a bit of research on what the average soldier fight for the Serbs, Croats or Bosnians would have looked like (as far as uniforms and kits go) and used in battle.
So far, for the infantry, almost all regular riflemen used a Zastava M70, which is the Yugoslavian version of the AK-47. They used a bunch of Yugoslavian variants of Russian weapons, like the Dragunov and PKM and so on.
Almost all sides used M81 Woodland camouflage or something that looked like it, if not that, then a mixture of civilian and military-looking clothes. The Serbians used the old Yugoslavian Army uniform commonly which was a kind of field khaki-gray. From the footage and photographs I've seen, Chicom rigs and rucksacks are used quite a bit.
The Serbs wore old Yugoslavian helmets (if at all), and the Bosnians and Croats wore a mixture of M1's and M56's (the M56 being my favorite helmet). I've seen berets and winter wool hats being worn by some soldiers in a few pictures I've seen, but some wear nothing on their head at all. A really useful site to look at if you're into military helmets is Brendon's Helmets. There's quite the collection there.
Here are some other examples of some soldiers:

I believe this soldier is Yugoslavian or Serbian, judging by the helmet and camo. The helmet is actually called the "M59".

A good example of a post-Yugoslavian uniform in use with the Serbs.

Here's an example of an M56 in use amongst Croatian forces. The soldier second on the left is wearing what I think is Olive Drab. These might be Bosnians, because from the footage I've seen, they tend to be sporting the M56 a lot more than the Croats.

Bosnians wearing the same helmet.

Croats using the M1 Helmet. One of the soldiers in this picture (the 3rd one on the left holding his rifle over his shoulder) is actually carrying what looks like an FN-FAL.

And some more Yugoslavians or Serbs with man's best friend (although I tend to like cats a bit more, but I think a cat's battlefield effectiveness is questionable). 

 For the soldiers with helmets, I've been looking on Elhiem Figures and RH Models for both helmeted and civilian militia models.
I'll keep you posted when I pick the first miniatures up.
However, just before I leave, I thought I'd show you the pictures I've been taking while I enjoy the last few weeks of summer before I have to go to school again. This is just the countryside around where I live. Enjoy!

This is my favorite one.

Turkeys always move in a troop-like fashion.

A lot of people come up to Maine for the summertime, and sadly a lot of them get to miss the best part about it, the countryside. However, they don't get to miss the nearly constant dreary weather, but hey, if they don't like it, they can go to Florida!
Stay tuned!