ABERDEEN MODELLERS SOCIETY EXHIBITION 2014 (PART 3).

Here are models and dioramas from the naval, space and other genres.

A diorama with 1/32 or 54mm figures showing 8th Army engineers clearing lanes through the minefields at El Alamein

    Various views, from different angles, of the naval, space, sci-fi and other models on display.


Two views of a cutaway model of a gundeck. Really good work! Could have done with some figures to give a better idea of scale?

ABERDEEN MODELLERS SOCIETY EXHIBITION 2014. (PART 2)

The second post covers military vehicle models.

A BT 7 tank being used against it's former owners.

 The BT-7 is one of my favourite tanks. I think this is down to it being the first 1/300 GHQ model I got. It looks more like a tank than the T-34 IMHO. This model represents a captured example in German service.

KV 2: gunning the the BT 7?

 Another of my favourites: The KV2. More a self propelled gun than a tank, and a magnet for enemy fire to boot!

A selection of military vehicle dioramas.

A diorama and some detailed individual vehicles.

Russian Aerosan. I should have a similar model soon, through the 'Winter War' Kickstarter.

I did have a chat with a couple of the members. I build models, but for gaming, so I don't consider myself a modeller. It is comforting (in a way) that modellers suffer the same problem as us wargamers: lots of unfinished projects. There always seems to be that 'oh shiny' moment that leads to a new project that only gets so far before the next 'oh, shiny, momement. Can you have a plastic mountain?

ABERDEEN MODELLERS SOCIETY EXHIBITION 2014 (PART 1).

On Saturday 27 September 2014, I made my third visit to the Aberdeen Modellers Society Exhibition. It is held at The Gordon Highlanders Museum, in Aberdeen http://www.gordonhighlanders.com/ I took a number of photos and I will post them over a few, broadly themed, posts.

First off, Here are some pictures of aircraft models and dioramas.

A tribute to a founder member who passed in January, p[resumably with some of the models that he built..

A wider view of the previous picture.

The view along a table crammed with aircraft.

Close up view of 'The Flying Bannana' diorama.

 

Close up of some of the aircraft in the general view.

Some more models from the general view.

General view of helicopters and some WW1 planes.

Another view of the WW1 planes. Some of these models are made from card and paper.

The Mosquito at the top right of the photo is made of paper!

Some models of German experimental aircraft.

More German Experimental aircraft. Some got into action, some made prototype stage and some did not get off the drawing board.

Close up of the Me 163. 

A view of Spitfires and Hurricanes undergoing maintainance.

Another view of the Battle of Britain diorama.

STAR TREK ATTACK WING: SKIRMISH IN THE CONTESTED ZONE.

Estremis system 2275: Two Constitution class starships along with the Reliant have away teams on Estremis III and IV preparing loads of a rare ore for beaming up. The ore loads are worth 5pts each. losing an away team costs 5pts. To beam up, a ship must be within range 1 of the planet and use an action. 

Their operation is interupted by the arrival of two D7 class cruisers and a K' T' Inga class starship, which I controlled, Rick took the Federation.

Early in the game, the three Federation ships are busy beaming up ore and away teams when the Klingon ships appear.

Reliant fires at a D7, but fails to register a hit.

The Constitution class ships pull a full asterm manouvre to move out of range of the Klingon ships.

The Reliant moves slightly, keeping within orbit of Estremis IV, and getting another shot at the D7, taking out it's shields.

Enterprise manages to defeat the other D7s shields to score two hits. The fire from the D7 does not penetrate Enterprises shields.

General combat is joined.

Constitution takes two hits from photon torpedoes from the K' T' Inga.

The Enterprise moves onto the rear of a D7, scoring a hit!

The new starship Constellation was the distant support for the operation and arrived after six turns. There was a chance that the engines would malfunction, but they didn't.

Constellation scores hits on the K'T'Inga class, which has no shields and can no longer cloak.

The surviving ships of both sides make their way out of the combat zone.

Although, in the end, no ships were destroyed, the Federation met their mission goals, getting all their away teams and most of the ore aboard, thus scoring a decisive victory. Rick generally managed to keep a planet between his ships and the Klingons whilst concentrating on beaming up. Both sides had heavily damaged ships in the end.

IHMN: BRING HIM BACK ALIVE!

Our Wednesday game this week saw my Scotland Yard company take on David's Tottenkopf Battalion company. The scenario was Bring him back alive! Scotland Yard had become aware of a threat to John Cayley, an aeronautical engineer. They had to ensure his safety before the Damned Prussians got to him or to make sure that they couldn't benefit from his knowledge, killing him if that's what it takes!

The Tottenkopf make their way into the engineering works.

The coppers of Scotland Yard make their approach from the other end.

Sergeant Forbes is felled by a rifle bullet. The good Dr Fraser rushes to his aid. Meanwhile, two constables rush to the foot of the stairs, determined to test out their Edison arc truncheons on the Prussians on the balcony.



One of the Prussians fires a grenade launcher and manages to land a grenade in the centre of the group. The poison gas grenade takes out both coppers and Dr Fraser. 

The two constables scatter to avoid a gas grenade rolled down the stairs. Meanwhile Herr Doktor and his hench men emerge with their prisoner.

The end of the game, the Prussians make their escape. One of the Tottenkopf Kommandos bayonet charges constable Piece, which stops him from attempting to shoot Cayley.

Not shown in the pictures was a brief but decisive action inside the engineering works. Chief Inspector Straight and three men tried to approach through the turbine hall. They were stopped by accurate rifle fire and two poison grenades which made the hall impassible. The men had to take the long way round and were too late to influence the outcome. It was a decisive victory for the Prussians, who won by 39 VP to 2 VP.

This was the first outing for David's Tottenkpf. I don't think that even he expected the poison gas grenades to be so effective. They do cost a bit, and have to be paid for individually and, now they have been seen in action, simple countermeasures and tactics can be employed.

I had also tweaked my coppers to allow use of equipment and talents from the expansions. Sadly, I never got close enough to use the arc truncheons much. You may also wonder what happened to Professor House, the consulting detective? He was there, although he was using his 'master of disguise talent' but never got in to a position to make a really effective 'reveal'. He did make himself known to use his 'erudite wit' in the last turn.

Despite the loss, I enjoyed the game. It was played in a spirit of narrative interpretation, which reall helped create a great gaming atmosphere.

IN HER MAJESTY'S NAME: BREAKTHROUGH!

A week past Wednesday, rather than our usual games night at David's, we decided to game at the Geek Room's games night, which is held in the function room at the Brig O' Dee Bar.

 David's Secret Service team was taking on Del's Star Theatre Players. The scenario was 'Breakthrough'.

With both teams small, Del took the' attack is the best form of defence stance' and attacked, appart from his hunter, who decided to hold back and pick off any enemy getting past her colleagues with rifle fire.

David unleashed his Ape. This is a fast and deadly creature.

                                      A fierce battle was joined near the edge of the board.

In the end, despite casualties on both sides, David got enough figures off the board to leave Del looking for snookers to win on victory points. One of the characters that escaped had the famed Duquesne Scroll.

An exciting game. The atmosphere of the game was not like one of our normal games. This probably had something to do with being in a club setting. Our games are normally accompanied with a lot of chat and cups of tea. At the Geek Room the game was more focused and flew by.

DEAD MAN'S HAND: JUSTICE IS SERVED (NOT).

A Thursday game from a few months ago. We played a two game mini campaign of Dead Man's Hand. The first scenario was, I think, 'Ambush' 

Two bad guys (left) ambush a good guy. 

Another good guy(left) exits a building straight into a hail of gunfire and is out of the fight.



A third good guy moves towards the bad guy. The second bad guy is sheltering at the corner of the second building on the left (betrayed by his face down card).

Both bad guys are at the top of the street. Accurate fire

A bad guy tries to finish off the closest good guy. His mate manages to shoot accurately and put a second good guy out of the fight. 

Two good guys down. Victory to the bad  guys!

The second scenario was.'There Will Be Blood'

Good guy, right, encounters a bad guy.

In a dastardly and cowardly act, the bad guy plays a card that allows him to take a hostage.

The other good guys muster in support. The bad guys prefer to do their shooting from the cover of buildings.

The marshal manages to cause hits despite the hostage.

Two street level views of the action.

With two good guys down, victory to Rick's bad guys.

The game system is great for fitting into the amount of time you have available for gaming. Two games in completed in under three hours.