Author: Felix

Flames of War Scenery

Having spent a bit of time making and painting models for Flames of War I have been thinking about doing some terrain. As well as potentially buying resin scenery, I have also been thinking about making some of my own.

There are lots of sources available on the web that can be used to inspire or to provide ideas for models. One recent find was the following entry on How to be a Retronaut on the destruction of Epinal in France during World War Two.

Epinal is a town in north-eastern France that was hit badly both by the German invasion in 1940 and subsequently with the liberation of the town by American forces four years later.

The destruction was horrific in 1940 as you can see from these images.

destruction of Epinal in 1940

destruction of Epinal in 1940

Likewise there was added destruction four years later as the forces of liberation pushed the Germans back.

destruction of Epinal in 1944

From a modelling perspective these photographs give you an idea of what war torn France looked like during the 1940s. Some of the key features that I have noticed is that in amongst the destroyed buildings there are others which have minimal damage. Plenty of ideas in these photographs.

15mm British Cruiser Tank Mk III A13

The Tank, Cruiser, Mk III (A13) was a British cruiser tank of the Second World War. It was the first British cruiser tank to use the Christie suspension system which gave higher speeds and better cross-country performance, previous models of cruiser tanks having used triple wheeled bogie suspension. Like most British cruisers, the A 13 was fast but under-armoured and proved unreliable mechanically. Most were lost in the French campaign in 1940, but a few were used in Greece and the North African campaign in 1940-41.

I have had this tank for sometime. Don’t remember the manufacturer, though I think it may be an old SDD Miniatures model. It’s made of metal and is quite well detailed. After cleaning the model I gave it a white undercoat.

Looks better already than when it was plain metal.

See the full workbench feature on the A13.

Warhound Titan

On my website I have a gallery devoted to the Space Wolves. The pictures predominantly show Mike Sharpe’s superb Space Wolves army, which was on show at GamesDay 2006, GamesDay 2007 and GamesDay 2008.

As well as lots of Space Wolves he also had a fair few Titans when the army was displayed at GamesDay 2008.

This was one of his Warhound Titans.

See the whole gallery.

15mm Home Guard Bedford OXA

The Bedford OXA was a gun truck or improvised British heavy armoured car built during World War II by mounting an armoured body onto a Bedford OXD 1.5 ton truck chassis. 948 units were built in 1940-1941.

The vehicle was used by British Home Guard units until 1942. As with many of my 15mm metal vehicles I don’t recall who the manufacturer was. I gave the model a white undercoat.

This is a solid whitemetal casting.

The next stage will be a basecoat of Brown Violet (887).

Dystopian Wars

I don’t know about you, but occasionally I find a game that I think just makes me go “woah!” and I just have to have it.

I remember playing Talisman (1st Edition) for the first time and thinking what an amazing boardgame. I had before playing Talisman only played boardgames like Monopoly, and Talisman was so very different. That was nearly thirty years ago…

Since then other games that have had a similar impact include Car Wars, Twilight 2000 and Space 1889. I really enjoyed playing Car Wars and spent many hours designing vehicles and playing it back in the 1980s. I loved the concept behind Twilight 2000 and though I never really got a chance to play it for a lengthy campaign, I did enjoy reading articles and scenarios for it. Space 1889 was one of those ideas that I hadn’t really considered before and was my first introduction to Victorian Science Fiction (well the First Men in the Moon aside). Since then I have really enjoyed VSF and steampunk, I really liked the Difference Engine and even wrote an article on wargaming in the world of the Difference Engine.

So a few months back when I was a gaming shop in Birmingham and noticed the Dystopian Wars, I was like a moth to a candle! This was one of those games that I just had to have and would have to play.

Imagine a world similar to our own, but subtly different. Now imagine the year is 1870 and the Industrial Revolution occurred decades earlier than in our own world. Technology is far advanced, and in many cases, unrecognisable, which has led to the development of fantastic naval vessels, hulking land ships and terror from the skies in the form of airships and war balloons.

Looking at the models, unfortunately the rules had sold out, there was one model that caught my eye and that was the model I had to have and would set me down the path of the Dystopian Wars. It was the Prussian Sky Fortress.


Having decided that this was a definite purchase, I realised that I would also need an opponent and looking at the boxed sets, I decided to go with the Kingdom of Britannia.

A few weeks later I managed to get hold of the rulebook and was very impressed with the content and production values.

So time to get painting.

Red Tails

This film from Lucasfilms is looking excellent. Some great special effects as well as authentic looking planes and tanks (we can thank CGI for that).

1944. As the war in Europe continues to take its toll on Allied forces, the Pentagon brass has no recourse but to consider unorthodox options — including the untried and untested African-American pilots of the experimental Tuskegee training program. Just as the young Tuskegee men are on the brink of being shut down and shipped back home, they are given the ultimate chance to show their courage. Against all the odds, with something to prove and everything to lose, these intrepid young airmen take to the skies to fight for their country — and the fate of the free world.

Want to go and see this.