Elhiem: What A Carry On!

No. Stop Messin' About!  Seriously. We are kick starting the Winter of  '79 engines this winter with a quick look at Elheim's new Early Cold War British from the 1950's armed with the SLR, which was adopted by the British Army in 1957. Winter of '59 Anyone?

"Don't you think this is a trifle out of date in a world bristling with H-Bombs, Sergeant?"

Right now, the  photos on the Elheim website  aren't clear enough to view details so I have to assume they are wearing WW2 era Battledress. Also can't quite make out if they are wearing WW2 era tin lids or the Cold War era MK IV? However, the poses are good, the SLR armed blokes in ECB01 are IMO better than the similar 1970/80s BAOR11, who look like their mess tins can be heard half way to the Kremlin.

 Elhiem Early Cold War British (ECB01)

For Winter of '79 I'd use these guys straight out of the pack as militia/paramilitary types, possibly exchanging the helmets for  bareheads and berets to give them a more irregular feel. I'm actually thinking of an 'Iron Column' of ex-Cons in blue prison battledress. There's also two support packs, each with 3 squaddies armed with a Sterling, Bren.and bazooka (the M20 'Super' Bazooka).   

IRE02 Irish GARDA Police Plain clothes armed with UZIs

More immediately useful not only to our Winter of '79 games, but as 1970's European terrorists, undercover operators and special forces in mufti are IRE02 Irish GARDA Police Plain clothes armed with UZIs. 

Cheers
Mark

Sci Fi Saturday: Scatter Terrain by Karl Alexander

That's the article and supporting material for Wargames Illustrated done! I think it's only fair at this stage to extend both my gratitude and thanks to Wayne at W.I. for his assistance and friendship throughout the process.

Behind the scenes, Wayne has created a buzz about Winter of '79 with manufacturers that you all may benefit from and that alone has made the effort worth it! We'll be back to blogging with all Sterlings blazing next week!

Today, perhaps not surprisingly, I'm taking a short break from all things Winter of  '79, to share my latest Sci Fi scatter terrain find from ebay seller Karl Alexander of Boomer Designs (seller: karl7582).

 Scatter Terrain from eBay seller: Karl7582

Karl kindly painted these crates and drums for me in order to capture an 'Aleph' feel but also specifically match the new Infinity Hephaestus Scenery Pack.

It's also a bit more Mass Effect orientated than the original choice offered by Karl which is in a more military grey/green colour scheme, as shown below.

In the set there's a mix of 32 barrels and crates in the set for around £15.00 plus postage. I've suggested a yellow/red scheme to Karl as well and where practical, he'd be happy to oblige anyone who wanted a bespoke colour combination. I've bought several sets of crates from Karl in the past and he's always been great to do business with.

I have to admit I was vaguely interested in the new Beyond the Gates of Antares boxed starter set Xilos Horizon, but Maff did me a favour and talked me out of it. Instead, I'm keeping an eye on Icarus Miniatures and wishing them all the best. I'm really hoping some of their alien concepts get into production as they would be perfect for AE Bounty and similar skirmish/adventure games.

Cheers
Mark

Sitrep: The Royal Oak

We've gone dark over the past month as I've taken rooms in the Royal Oak to concentrate on writing about Winter of '79 for Wargames Illustrated. Found these boys posing one day on my return from work. Took a snap with my Instamatic. It was a long cold walk to the chemists to get the photograph developed, what with the buses over crowded due to the petrol shortages and the trains not running.

Bob on the left, is the pub landlord. Nice fella. Great egg and chips. Was a Para at Suez. Agrees with Enoch Powell but keeps it quiet unless it's a lock in with the regulars. Thinks his SLR is 'Gods gift to the Empire'. Bill in the Italian camo jacket is a hospital porter. He's on strike. Bit of a leftie, listens to Leonard Cohen and will argue ideological distinctions at the drop of a tuppance, but salt of the earth. Then there's Bob with the Sterling, now he thinks that he's Lewis Collins. In fact he and Bill are a right pair. Benjy on the right has a bit of latino in him. Claims to have been a chef at Marco's Cafe before it went up in flames. Waiter more like. Does a nice coffee though. None of your Maxwell House rubbish. How handy they'll be in a real stand up fight against Maggie's boys from the Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne, I dunno, but they keep the local villains at bay.



Cheers
Mark

Winter of '79 Urban Camo Land Rover Cheat!

A quick and easy cheat for you if you want to get into Winter of '79 with little fuss is this Oxford diecast Land Rover Defender in Berlin urban camo scheme.

The Defender went into production in 1983 but the demands of conflict may have seen it brought out sooner. For some of you a Land Rover is a Land Rover and it won't matter anyway.

Being hard top it makes a great proxy for an armoured Land Rover. A bit of wire mesh on the windows, headlights etc - job done. Yes, I know the spare tyre should go on the roof but it leaves an unsightly indentation in the bonnet. Let's go into 'squint' mode and say it's a rush job by the local REME to meet the huge demand for internal security vehicles.

Cheers
Mark

Land Rovers from Heaven

The most prevalent vehicle in any Winter of '79 scenario set in the UK or beyond has to be the iconic Lannie. Sean over at S&S Models (http://www.sandsmodels.com/) has released a whole clutch of Lannies to augment your Winter of '79 forces!

From open and soft top 109s, FFR (Fitted For Radio) 1 tonne FC and radio wagon to ambulance, Recce and airportable 1/2 ton Recces. All there ready in the online shop for your government or rebel vehicle park.

The bobby basic Lannies are £7.50 and Recce wagons £11.00, which includes crew, weapons and stowage.  Hop over to http://www.sandsmodels.com/ and check them out.

Matt at Elheim has BAOR vehicle crew as does Rolf of RH Models but Rolf also has some Urban Meltdown armed civvies with SLRs to crew these beauties.

Cheers

Mark

East Whittington

The old industrial housing area of our fictional East Whittington is beginning to take shape........

I hadn't wanted to go the Metcalfe terraced house route....... however, they're a relatively inexpensive route to filling a table quickly (2'x3' in above photos ) to represent the industrial heartlands. Some of the buildings need a tidy up, but the overall effect is good - just need to finish the road, add pavements, street furniture and job is a good 'un.

More Winter of '79 action from Wayne and the lads to follow.....

Cheers
Mark

Orkney Saga

Just back from a solo trip to Orkney, which proved to be a great opportunity to relax, clear the mind and reboot.

I found the people were very welcoming and friendly. Food was good quality and surprisingly cheap. Plus of course there's history by the bucketful from Neolithic times through to WW2. My firm favourite was the moody yet magnificent Ring of Brogdar. Set in a dramatic landscape you were instantly transported back in time. 

Already planning the return trip! 

Cheers

Mark