Is it getting cold in here? Part 1

     I have spent the last month steadfastly painting (but not blogging for some reason) my Soviet army for Bolt Action and while there is way too much to even think about including it all on this I have picked a few of the best bits of it and I'll pick a few more over the next week or so.

First up is a pair of what could be my new favourite tank, the SU-76. In the game, they are a light tank, with light howitzer and a cheap upgrade to also fire medium AT rounds. I can take two of these for barely more than a Panzer 4 but these earn their points back much quicker than their bigger equivalents.

       Next up is my MMG and HMG. The one on the left is supposed to be the HMG but I'm really not sure, either that they are the correct way round or that it actually mattered at the time. Either way, I have a spare kneeling man I add to the HMG to set it apart

      Next is 4 of some 60 odd rifle armed troops I have painted for this army. I end up using nearly all of them in every game. Yes, that guy in the front has a chicken in his hand and I'm not really sure why - but he single handedly took on 3 S.S and won so that is a potent close combat weapon as far as I am concerned.

      Above and below are; one of my two snipers and one of the two officers plus his mate. My officers are always armed with assault weapons of some type and this guy is no exception, the arm is taken from the plastic sprues, while his mate's panzerfaust is just to make people nervous.

       Lastly is my Gaz jeep, a beast of a transport it towers over the American willy's jeep. This one is driven by one of the female auxiliary corp, she looks harmless but is that a pistol on the seat next to her?

Thanks for reading.

Silence the witness

     "You may hear of a killing if everything works right . . . but it may be some time yet".

                                                                                         - Texas Ranger Ira Aten

      In a lack of shot painting achievements this week, I have a Dead Man's Hand battle report from a game played over the weekend instead. The game was the 3rd scene scenario Protect the Witness, with me playing as the Outlaws trying to kill the witness and Steve playing the Lawmen trying to get him to a safe house.

      To win the game the Lawmen had to get the witness (any model from the Lawman's gang - noted down before the game but hidden from the opposition) into either the sheriff's office, the bank or the two-story building next door without an Outlaw inside it as well. Easier said than done.

      Unbeknownst to me, a lucky kill in the first turn took out the guy standing next to the witness, if only I had known it was the guy next to him!

     A foolhardy Outlaw storms a shop with three Lawmen hidden in it. At this point, I was pretty confident three men storming up one side of the board had to include the witness so I went in all guns blazing.

      Some more lucky shooting clears one side of the board leaving the three Lawmen holding out in their shop and one more hiding in the saloon.

    Figuring I might as well take out the guy on his own before he took me out from behind, my dastardly Outlaw boss took a hostage and forced his way into the building, gunning down the surprised Lawmen he found. When the smoke had cleared it was revealed that this was in fact the witness they were after.

       Dead Man's Hand is one of those games that I find a little clunky in it's rules but really good fun if you are willing to put the time in, it really does feel like a cowboy game with cowboys in it. One of those games you can sit back and watch the lead fly and see who is still standing once the smoke clears and this was no exception.

Thanks for reading