Showing posts with label Daleks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daleks. Show all posts

Wednesday, 21 June 2017

Daleks versus the Afrika Korps - A strange encounter

Last night the Shed hosted a rather strange game of bolt action. I was joined by Mark & Steve for what they though was going to be a rather simple pulpy skirmish on my desert boards.

To be frank I cobbled the idea together about an hour before they arrived having decided to shuffle around the desert boards from last weeks crusader game.

The focal point of the table was my Egyptian temple sitting in the valley of the lost kings. Access to the valley was through the wadis beyond the Oasis.


The Nazi's (Mark of course) were given this briefing

Egypt - 1937
Transcripts from Radio Messages sent by Colonel Werden to Heinrich Himmler -
Herr Himmler
I am delighted to report that the dig in Cairo is proceeding as instructed. I have been informed by the archaeological team that they are about to open the doors to the outer crypt. It appears that the tomb has remained untouched in all these years. I believe we are on the verge of a most exciting discovery…
Morale remains high amongst the team only dampened by this dreaded heat and dust

Herr Himmler
At the request of Professor Benoit we assembled a series of monitors and testing equipment around the tomb entrance. Initial results suggest a high level of radioactivity and electrical interference beyond the tomb door. We will proceed with caution.

Herr Himmler
Grave news – Professor Benoit and his team broke the seal on the crypt this morning and entered the tomb. Two hours later there was no sign of him and his exploratory party. I instructed Kapitan Funf to assemble a small squad to investigate – they have entered the tomb. Soon after a lone trooper emerged with severe burns. Before he died de stated that Kapitan Funf and his squad had been wiped out…his last words were…Vernichten, Vernichten, Vernichten


Attention: Colonel Herzog
Since the last encrypted message from Colonel Werden we have heard no news from the excavation camp. You are to proceed with all speed to the camp, assess the issue and make the necessary steps to ensure the contents of the tomb do NOT fall into enemy hands



The Nazi forces (seven squads of infantry would enter middle right)

To the South lay the combined forces assembled by British Intelligence (3 squads of Sikh infantry and four squads of friendly Bedouins). Steve was given this briefing

........................................................................................................................................................
British Intelligence Briefing
Recent radio chatter in Cairo has picked up a series of messages from a German exaction dig in the valley of the kings to none other than Heinrich Himmler in Germany.

These messages were encrypted but our boffins have done their best to decipher them..

Herr Himmler
I am delighted to ……..the dig in ……….is proceeding as ………. informed ……… team that ………….. to open the doors to the ………………... It appears ……………………..untouched………….. years. I believe ………….. discovery…
Morale …………………….team……………………. only dampened by this dreaded……………….

Herr Himmler
At the request of Professor Benoit ……………………………………..and testing equipment …………….tomb entrance. ………………………….results suggest a high level…………………………….. interference …………….. We will proceed with caution.

Herr Himmler
Grave ………… Professor Benoit ……………………..broke the seal…………..this morning and………………………... Two hours ………………………..no sign of him………………………………..  instructed Kapitan…………………………… investigate…………… Soon after…………………a …….trooper…………….severe burns. …………………………………………………..last words ………….Vernichten, Vernichten, Vernichten

Captain Rogers

An assault force has been assemble just outside the valley of the kings –your mission to investigate what has happened and to take steps on ensuring that Nazis do not leave the area with anything important.

The British forces would enter from the Oasis



The British forces advance into the desert....



Meanwhilst the Germans enter the table - both sides heading for the dig



Inevitably this mad rush forward ended in tears as a firefight erupted between the opposing forces in the tight canyons


Lead by the Bedouin horse the British surged forward



The Afrika Korps set up a defensive screen....




and quickly establisghed firing positions in the scattered ruins around the temple


At this point something strange happened - the pillars around the temple started to glow - each turn another started to glow - eventually forming an electrical web over the structure.

Local diggers ran from the crypt entrance waving a heiroglyphic covered cloth...

This they handed to the Afrika Korps commander - look carefully !! You can see a tardis and a dalek...clues for what was about to happen....






Despite the strange lightshow above the temple the firefight continued between the forces - Arab horse charghed into a unit of Nazis - a very effective charge - the very first I have witnessed in Bolt Action


By now the temple was bathed in blue light and emerging from the entrance were some strange pepperpot shapes....


Each turn more units more forth. It became obvious to Mark and Steve that there own firefight was no longer important - they had to defeat a common foe...


We used the Dalek rules for Bolt Action published here

https://boltactiontimelord.wordpress.com/tag/daleks/

The only major modification being small arms gaineds a +1 penetration at very close range (ie under 6")




At this point a strange blue box appeared and a man claiming to be called the Doctor arrived - he quickly explained to the British commander that the only way to stop this invasion was to switch off the grid - each pylon had a switch at its base (found on a 9+). The Doctor could automatically find these.

I suspect if the Doctor had tried to talk to the Nazis he might have been shot ! True to form they had tried to shoot the local diggers only to be beaten by the Daleks

 



The next hour saw a furious and bloody firefight around the temple as each turn more daleks arrived. Casualties on both sides were extremely high but the combined forces of humanity were switching down the pylons slowly


The Afrika Korps soon realised that a long range exchange of fire was not working against their armoured opponents - subtlety was thrown out the window and everything descended into a point blank firefight.


More daleks arrived - ( i have nearly 90 of these magazine toys)

Links to build here

http://shedwars.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/something-very-different-from-shed28mm.html



By now things were getting desparate - the humans were riunning out of troops and the Dalek grid was still operational


With a sustained charge the Bedouins, Sikhs and Germans pushed forward. Sacrificing their lives to switch off the pylons  - success !




A few rounds later the Dalek menace had been halted - only three Sikh soldiers remained

What fun !!

Tune in soon for another Shed report


Tuesday, 1 September 2015

28mm Flying Saucer / UFO part 2

Hi Folks

Managed to get a bit more work done on the flying saucer last night...

Part 1 can be found here...

http://shedwars.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/28mm-flying-saucer-ufo-part-1.html

First up I felt that the side wall needed some embellishment - this was provided by some old games workshop bases I had knocking around.



I then turned my attention to the landing gear. I decided quite early on that this would be a separate piece - that way I could display the saucer both in flight and on the ground.

The 'legs' are actually plumbing fittings - a bag of ten cost around £11. These were fixed to a card disk (on which will sit the saucer). To give them more weight I added a 25mm washer 'foot'.








Once these were dry the whole thing got its first primer coat and then the first 'silver coat' - metallic Volvo Silver from Halfords





I still need to complete the paiont job but I thought you might like to see the craft with some of its occupants...this is a big saucer




I should hopefully get this completed later in the week...

Until next time

Thursday, 27 August 2015

28mm Flying Saucer/ UFO Part 1


With almost four weeks off the hobby thought I would get back into the swing of things with a new build...

Having built my Dalek Army I realised that to truly bring their presence to life on my table would be the creation of a Spaceship - specifically a flying saucer. No doubt this can feature in other games.

This simple project will illustrate how some simple materials can create some wonderful out of world wonders.

So lets start on the materials for part 1...

First up the hull of the craft will be built using 14" plastic hub caps  - I bought a pack of four of these on ebay for £15 (inc postage)



The second acquisition for the dome on the top was this disc from a poundstore - described as a lolly pop stand. It just happened to be the perfect size.

The third part was a £1 garden light from again the same pound store. The top is just perfect for the top part of the saucer.

Finally  - a lot of bamboo BBQ skewers.


In this build I have turned one of the hub caps upside down and stuck cut skewers over the open vents on the hub cap. Once glued (using super glue) they give a great impression of coils running around the inside of the craft. This job took around thirty minutes to do one piece. Both top an bottom of the craft were given the same treatment.

 
 







With the top and bottom complete I needed to join these together to complete the hull..the clips that fix the caps to the car wheel and the underside of the vents match up when the hulls are joined.

To get the two hub caps matched up and joined together I cut some long strips of foam core and glued these inside one of the hub cap rims - once dry I was able to place the top half onto these 'walls' and glue in place.








On the top I glued the lolly pop stand followed by the chrome affect top of the light fitting. This will be topped off with another disc when I find some thing the right size.



Part 2 can be found here

http://shedwars.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/28mm-flying-saucer-ufo-part-2.html

Thursday, 16 July 2015

28mm Daleks - The Leader added

Hi Folks

Just a short post today.

Firstly can I thank you all for the wonderful comments you have posted so far on this specific project. Its this sot of feedback that not only does wonders for my ego but also pushes me on to finish these tasks.

So when I left you last some 80 Daleks had been painted and were ready for action.

The start of this project can be found here

http://shedwars.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/something-very-different-from-shed28mm.html


To go back to first of these posts head here

http://shedwars.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/something-very-different-from-shed28mm.html

Of course what they are missing is the creator of the Daleks - Davros. When I started this project I became aware that Black Tree Design actually produced a Davros figure so this was duly ordered along with a number of discounted WW2 German infantry.

link: https://www.blacktreedesign.com/uk/search.php?mode=search&page=1&keep_https=yes

Who is Davros...(source Wikipedia)

Davros is a character from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Davros is an archenemy of the Doctor and is the creator of the Doctor's deadliest enemies, the Daleks. Davros is a genius who has mastered many areas of science but also a megalomaniac who believes that through his creations he can become the supreme being and ruler of the Universe. Davros was created by screenwriter Terry Nation.
Davros is from the planet Skaro, whose people, the Kaleds, were engaged in a bitter thousand-year war of attrition with their enemies, the Thals. He is horribly scarred and crippled, a condition that various spin-off media attribute to his laboratory being attacked by a Thal shell. He has one functioning hand and one cybernetic eye mounted on his forehead to take the place of his real eyes, which appear to have been fused shut; for much of his existence he depends completely upon a self-designed mobile life-support chair which encloses the lower half of his body. It would become an obvious inspiration for his eventual design of the Dalek. The condition of the lower half of his body is unknown; he is physically incapable of leaving the chair without dying. Davros's voice, like those of the Daleks, is electronically distorted. His manner of speech is generally soft and contemplative, but when angered or excited he is prone to ranting outbursts that resemble the hysterical, staccatissimo speech of the Daleks





When the figure arrived I soon noticed that he was a lot shorter than the army I had created from the plastic toys.  To make matters worse he came on a slotta base. Not too worry a quick conversion was all that was required.



I fixed the metal Davros into a vice and using a hacksaw I cut him in two - at the point where his tray/body meets the chair.



I then took one of my plastic daleks and cut the torso from this.





The two resulting pieces were then fixed together using superglue. I know its a botch job but Davros does at least now look the right height compared to the rest of the army.



Just need to slap some paint on him....

Until next time

Saturday, 16 May 2015

28mm Daleks - The Army takes Shape - part 2

Hi Folks

Well I am delighted to report that the Dalek Army is now starting to take shape. Since I reported on this last month a few more of the metal pepper pots arrived and have been painted.

For sources of these and the start of this project head here

http://shedwars.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/something-very-different-from-shed28mm.html

I decided that rather than paint all of them in the same colour scheme I would have some variety - this not only allows ease of identifying units on the table it also makes them slightly more interesting to paint.

Up first four greys -



Then we have six bronze/gold versions



and a dozen red Drones


And here is the Army in its full glory - including a white supreme version at the front


In total there are 86 Daleks - that's a lot of domes to paint.


A quick review of my eBay expenditure revealed that I paid around £52 (inc postage for this lot) across 7 lots. That works out about 60p per figure. The ones from Blacktree would have cost me in the region of £3 each so this proved a good option.



And the whole lot all fit into one of my boxes that I use to store minis


There is still space to fit in Dr Who and Davros - currently on order from Black Tree

Until next time


Part 3 of this project can be found here

http://shedwars.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/28mm-daleks-leader-added.html