After the Battle Athens December 1944

Issue no 155 of this magazine covers the British involvement in Greece at the end of WW2. Great edition of the magazine filled with before and after photos. It gives a good background too and description of the fighting. Well worth getting.

oops!

Oh dear, no posts since June last year, Absolutely shocking sorry about that. But to be honest the Balkans have been last thing on my mind last year. I had all the build up to and attended my brothers wedding. Although it was held on Corfu there wasn't much for the Balkan history buff. Possibly not the first Grecoscots wedding but a first for me. The Greek traditional dancing wearing kilts was pretty unusual.
Mike

Some new figures and a game.

Last week at the club we were mulling over what game to put on this week. I suggested a Balkan war game, hoping it would provide some sort of stimulus and get me painting again. It worked quite well as I managed to paint another Bulgarian battalion and a small unit of cavalry in just a week.

The massed Bulgarians.

The game gave me a chance to use my new river sections and bridge bought of Ebay. They look quite flimsy but are OK on the table.

I found a couple of packs of Peter Pig Russian cavalry in a drawer. I painted them as life guards as thought they would add a touch of much needed colour.

There and back again.

I got back from two weeks at work last night. As usual I was up and about far to early this morning. I was awake at 0330 most mornings at work but managed to sleep until 0500 this morning. Must have been that Red wine last night that gave me that extra couple of hours. The good news is that I managed to get some painting done and finally finished the first Bulgarian regiment and started the second. Pictures later today. I was also thinking I haven't photographed any of the Eureka Greeks. So will take some pics of those as well.

Osprey Men at arms 466

Armies of the Balkan Wars 1912-13, The priming charge for the Great war to give it it's full title. Arrived on my doorstep this morning. I've only had a chance to give it a quick look over but my first thoughts are positive. It is a basic introduction to the Balkan wars with some really nice photos that I hadn't seen before. The colour plates are also very well done and atmospheric. You could probably go ahead and paint any Balkan army using these alone. Which I suppose is the main strength of Osprey books that they are a one stop shop giving just enough info for those that just want that. I was however struck at how thin the book is. At 48 pages it is more a pamphlet than a book. A bargain price of £6.99 from Amazon though means that it is a must.

Bulgarian Krupp armoured field gun

A chap in Athens who I had been chatting with on another forum kindly took this snap for me. That was some time ago and unfortunately I lost his details. A big thanks to him though as I had lost all the pictures I took on my last visit. I approached Nic with the idea of producing these in resin and lead. But the cost was a bit much even for me. To be honest I don't think it would be a big seller. I must get over to Athens again sometime.

Minifigs Vs Peter Pig

As you know last month I ordered figures from both Peter Pig and Minifigs. Both orders arrived on the Saturday before I left for work. So I didn't get a chance to more than glance at them. Service from both companies was both good and quick. Although Minifigs delivery was slightly quicker being ordered a few days after and arriving on the same day as the Peter Pig. Both companies sent mails to confirm the orders and to tell me they had been despatched. The Peter Pig figures were as usual very well packed as were the Minfigs. The minifigs surprised me though as they come in little paper bags like a quarter of sweeties. They are still listed in packs on the website but I am guessing you can buy them individually. As well as the figs I ordered some other bits and pieces including field guns from both companies. Both were a bit of a dissapointment. From Peter Pig one gun had a miscast barrel while the other had only one wheel. Giving me one gun from two packs, Not good. Unfortunately the Minifigs gun has so much flash on it I haven't been bothered to put it together. I also ordered Maxim gins from Minifigs. These look ideal as they are supplied with a seperate shield which I can leave off. Lovely clean casting of bot gun and crew apart from one glaring problem. The firer has no face! I don't just mean a poorly sculpted face I mean a completely flat plug of metal where a face should be. I'm thinking a headswap may be in order so will have an ambulance on standby.