Free Taffs in closeup

There was a request from Christopher for a better picture of the CAF figures from our most recent game; they are of course up in sunny Kincardineshire but here, at no extra charge are some Free Taffs who I suspect are some of the same ex-Hotspur figures. These are the very lads who gave the SAS a bit of a suprise on the road to Llandeilo back in a very early W79 game

Back row left to right, Royal Marine M&AWC, Falklands SAS x2 - the one on the right is allegedly wearing a fashionable blue parka and is in fact the character figure of Commandant Owen Owens, the one man headshead of the Armed Forces of Free Wales.

Front left, M&AWC with "66" but cut about a bit and painted as an M79, another SAS.

A very eclectic collection of kit, weapons etc and probably equipped a bit too good for the Free Taffs at this point in the Winter of '79. That said, at that time these guys were the only Free Taffs in every way. Their berets are a greyier shade of green, not the dark, almost Royal Marine green beret that my later Free Taffs wear. If you think of Wales, you may think of red for the Dragon but that colour is already taken by a rather possessive group of gentlemen from Aldershot who have highly aggressive tendencies.........

Once finished, I'll put the rest of the Free Taffs on parade, along with their Royal Marine allies, plus the now famous Free Taff gunned up Dingo scout car and a chap with an M16 and a ranger cap who is apparently an "advisor" and who anwers to "Clint".

Cheers
Maff
 

Something for the Weekend Sir

Thought you might like a little something for the weekend.

Rolf  hopes to have pack URBMELTSLR (10 bareheaded civilian figures with SLR) in the mould this weekend. They are in the second batch to be made, so even if he can't manage this week, they will appear very shortly. It goes without saying that we are really looking forward to these miniatures as the backbone of our organised resistance along with the Urban Meltdown Support pack released during the summer.

Rolf is a good bloke and moved the URBMELTSLR production up the queue deliberately to aid our efforts on Winter of '79. So please support him in return and buy a pack or two yourselves.

I have to admit that those TQD Falklands British released back in August by C-P Models have been calling to me. I keep revisiting the pictures of them and am finding them hard to resist. In all probability due to the nature of the games we've been playing recently. Rural encounters between small groups of figures. Plenty of Spec Forces action and more to come in the next few weeks.

Add to that, I sent Mark at C-P Models an email query. He responded early the next morning and proved to be a real gent into the bargain. My great demon is over analysis. And anything that helps me narrow down options, like a manufacturer responding to my queries, so I can make my choices and spend my money and crack on, gains my support. 

When I originally envisioned Winter of '79, it was going to be a discrete side project with a platoon's worth of Britannia Cold War BAOR Brits as the government regulars fighting ex-Hotspur (aka Combat Miniatures) insurgents and rebel army forces drawn from the Operation Corporate and Urban Operations ranges. Well, we can all have dreams!

If I was starting again today from scratch, same brief as before - discrete and small scale project - then in order to save myself tears of frustration and get off to a running start, with games in the bag, I'd simply buy a pack of  the TQD-MF1 SAS, one to two packs of TQD-MF2 British Army Infantry.

Why? Life is complicated enough! On reflection, the TQD  figures have the right cold weather 'sleeping rough in the field' look I wanted for Winter of '79, the separate heads provide variety and personalisation, the separate bergans allow further choice. Plus I can see pics of what I'm buying (which is important so that I'm able to visualise how I will convert/use the figures and whether I need to up the order to get more of a specific miniature etc), then purchase online painlessly via paypal. Done!

A couple of Airfix Land Rovers, a Scorpion/Scimitar or two, a Saracen; all picked up form the local hobby store. Gaming ahoy! And plenty of potential for expanding later on with the help of Shaun (S&S), Tony (Platoon 20) and Rolf (Liberation Miniatures).

Looking ahead to some more future releases, you may be interested to hear that I emailed Brian at Hobby Den recently. It was on a Sunday and I wasn't really expecting a reply till Monday, or more likely Tuesday. Nope, he responded later that same Sunday afternoon. Definitely impressed! Brian hopes to have a 1/72 Shorland armoured patrol car and Saxon APC ready in October and an SAS 'Pinkee' Series IIA available around December or shortly afterwards.

Must be getting soft in my old age. Anyway, chatting with Maff on Wednesday we agreed that while we should continue to strive to use correct period kit for Winter of '79 wherever possible - there's no harm in deploying mildly anachronistic kit on the tabletop, such as 110 Land Rovers or proxying a Snatch Land Rover for a Land Rover Series 3, VPK. Weeeeeeell, I've had plenty of time to reassess my priorities recently; and being anal isn't one of them.

We also talked through options for an urban tabletop, but have to admit that we are struggling to come up with a cost effective and versatile layout that isn't Metcalfe/Superquick brick terrace. I'm currently erring on an industrial estate as an interim solution for both Winter of '79 and associated Geezers games.

In part 'cause that's where most of the action in The Sweeney and The Professionals seemed to have been filmed and therefore nicely atmospheric for Winter of '79. But on a practical side, commercial/industrial terrain can stand alone or provide a transition piece from countryside to suburban residential housing or terraced inner city. It can also be put together and rearranged at will like a Middle East 'city' tabletop.

There was an industrial estate near me when I was a kid. Flat roofed 2 and 3 storied offices attached to two, three medium sized sheds or a single large warehouse. Plenty of roads and alleyways to duck down. Yards full of pallet piles, cable drums, containers.

The industrial estate can be as big or small as you want and you can mix and match architecture without it looking odd. Parked lorries, delivery vans, portakabins, skips and burger vans can all add to the visual and tactical impact. Add a couple of Dapol cranes and you have a docks or railway goods yard!

The simplicity of the buildings also make a good test bed for scratch-building your own and ScaleScenes have a free downloadable Low Relief Warehouse to start you off.

Have a good weekend!

Cheers
Mark
  

A Much Needed Boost

Maff's Free Taff and government forces have received some painted reinforcements with the help of Mark Griffin of Pumpkin Models who was selling some Platoon 20 Cold War British from his personal collection. The bag included Scots, Irish Rangers and a whole heap of support weapons. These are just a few of the models:

Platoon 20: PB6 and PB6a

Platoon 20: PB6 and PB6a

Platoon 20: PB15

My first metal 20mm Moderns were Platoon 20, way back when in 1980(?), so I do continue to have a soft spot for them. And more figures in the pot means more choice, especially as neither of us had gotten round to support weapons just yet.

Cheers
Mark

NEW Urban Meltdown British with SLRs from RH MODELS

  
I'm pleased to say that it's not all been quiet on the Preston front. A little nudging from yours truly and Rolf at Liberation Miniatures (RH Models) will be following up his recently released Urban Meltdown British Support Weapons with several more packs of Urban Meltdown British that will be suitable for Winter of 79.

Urban Meltdown British with SLRs

from Liberation Miniatures

    
First off the blocks will be the bareheaded Urban Meltdown British with SLRs, pictured above. These will be supplemented with a pack of mixed civilian headdress and then with another with military head gear. Cracking stuff, Rolf.

Mixthese with Rolf's Australian Vietnam era SAS, Falklands SAS and sundry 80's British Army (helmets/berets etc) and you have a really good anti-government force.
        
The figures above are not at the casters yet as Rolf wants some feedback from you guys in order to incorporate your ideas where possible. So feel free to unleash your imagination and leave your ideas in the comments section below.

Cheers
Mark

updated 2/9/11

TQD Castings 20mm Falklands British

Back in 2009 TQD Castings created a small range of 1/72nd scale 1980's British infantry figures suitable for the Falklands War. But they proved to be as elusive as 'Ginge' Tavish McTavish in a ghillie suit. Well, cover is finally blown and they have been released by C-P Models.

TQD-MF1 SAS/COMMANDOS

(seperate heads - and bergans) 

TQD-MF2 BRITISH ARMY INFANTRY

(seperate heads and bergans) 

I like the fact that the bergans are separate and you can choose the head options when you order. However, I personally find the style of the figures more suitable for a static diorama than wargame table. Having said that, the Special Forces types in the first pack (TQD-MF1) would make a nice set of characters for Winter of 79 especially if you want a small colourful force - they wear waterproof leggings which could be painted dark red or blue rather than khaki to give that 'irregular', private army or rebel forces look.
   

At £6.80, for a pack of six miniatures, you pays your money and makes your choice.

Cheers

Mark

Miniatures: Cold War British Infantry from Britannia

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I have to admit that Winter of '79 left the ground as a project largely due to Britannia Miniatures range of 20mm British Infantry for the1960's-80's. 

 Britannia 20mm Cold War Platoon Command

Photo courtesy of Britannia Miniatures website

These Britannia minis are simply bursting with 1970's/80's squaddie character! I purchased a platoon worth plus some extras and was instantly delighted when I took the figures out of the package. As a result they will provide the basis of most Regular or 1st line Territorial Army (TA) Crown formations I put on the table.

Britannia 20mm Cold War 'Charlie G' team

Photo courtesy of Britannia Miniatures website

What makes them so special? The Britannia Cold War Brits are distinguishable from more modern British troops by their vintage kit. MkIV helmets hidden by loads o' scrim, '58 pattern webbing plus weapons such as the L1A1 Self Loading Rifle (SLR), Stirling SMG, and recoilless "Charlie G" 84mm. Plus you can't get away from the fact that Britannia's sculpting style is perfect at recreating that typical squaddie 'shabby' chic.

BAOR 1 Nco advancing with SLR
BAOR 2 Private standing firing SLR
BAOR 3 Private running with SLR
BAOR 4 Radio Operator advancing with SLR
BAOR 5 Private advancing with SLR
BAOR 6 2 man GPMG team advancing
BAOR 7 Private kneeling firing light mortar
BAOR 8 2 man Carl Gustav team, kneeling firing
BAOR 9 3 man Platoon HQ

With the sad passing of Dave Howitt of Britannia, as of 5th October 2011, this line appears to be on hiatus. Britannia were purchased by Andrew Grubb of Grubby Tanks but as he can't be arsed answering my query about future availability of the BAOR figures, my pounds are being spent elsewhere.

If you fancy getting some 70's/80's Cold War/Falklands era Brits, then the single most useful source on the internet is Forces 80, a living history group dedicated in representing the British Armed Forces From 1978 to 1989.

I highly recommend their 3 part series on Combat Uniforms of the 80's. It's a surprisingly  authoritative overview of British Army combat dress - better than many published works, and a good starting point for anyone interested in the period.

Cheers

Mark

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