Another U.N.I.T. infantry section. I am gradually painting this force up and am just about half way.
I have five more infantry sections and some characters to finish this project off.
Tomorrow a battle report just for a change.
Today marks the 144th anniversary of the battle of Rorke’s Drift. Immortalise by the film and the series of Posts from Imperial Rebel Ork, the battle was to become famous as the one in which the most Victoria Crosses (Britain’s highest award for valour) were awarded.
I will not go into a lot of details on the battle as it is so well known, but the Battle of Rorke’s Drift (1879), also known as the Defence of Rorke’s Drift, was an engagement in the Anglo-Zulu War. Just over 150 British and colonial troops defended the station against attacks by 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors. The massive but piecemeal attacks by the Zulu on Rorke’s Drift came very close to defeating the much smaller garrison, but were consistently repelled. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded among the defenders, along with a number of other decorations and honours.
It is also a sad tale of how we treat the bravest of our soldiers when they return home. A lesson we still have not learnt to this day.
I was really pleased to finally pick this set up before the Warlord Games BBC Dr Who license ran out at the end of 2022.
The series was aired at a time when there was significant ethical debate about heart transplantation, which was eventually to take place only months after the showing of the series.
On December 3, 1967, Dr Christian Barnard transplanted a heart from a 25-year-old woman fatally injured in a car accident into Lewis Washkansky, a 53-year-old South African grocer dying from chronic heart disease. Lung infection and pneumonia claimed Washkansky’s life 18 days later.
The Cybermen have all of the stereotype characteristics that were part of a conservative right wing push to ban organ transplants. The story goes that Telos Cybermen were once like us inhabiting the twin planet of earth, Mondas. Their scientists discovered ways to prolong and upgrade their race by replacing vital organs with metal and plastic. Each had the strength of eight men but all of their emotions had been removed. The Cybermen are more robot than man and are intent of conquering the galaxy and “upgrading” as many humans as possible to become like them. Surely this sort of thing would happen with organ transplants!
The Tomb of the Cybermen was the first serial of season 5 of Doctor Who, and was transmitted for the first time between the 2nd and 23rd of September, 1967. It introduced the first Cyber-Controller and the Cybermats.
The original video tapes of this four part series were wiped by the BBC, and for years only an off-air soundtrack survived.
Luckily, copies of the films were found in Hong Kong in 1991 and returned to the BBC archives, some 25 years after they were first shown. It is now the earliest full surviving series of the Second doctor.
The story begins with the Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria arriving on the planet Telos and encounter an archaeological expedition from Earth, who reveal they are searching for the last remains of the Cybermen.
After a controlled explosion , the entrance to the city is revealed. With the Doctor’s help, the expedition led b y Professor parry, enter a vast metallic chamber, with a central control unit and a hatch leading to the underground hibernation tombs where the Cybermen have laid dormant for centuries.
Eric Kleig and his business partner Kaftan, who funded the expedition, reveal their intention to revive the hibernating metal giants. Kleig believes he and his brotherhood of logicians can use their intelligence, matched with the strength of the Cybermen, to create an invincible army to conquer the galaxy.
The travellers soon learn the tomb is an elaborate trap. The Cybermen wanted to lure in suitable humans with enough intelligence to open the elaborate controls to the tomb, and then convert them into their own kind.
Toberman, Kaftan’s manservant is partially converted. The Doctor and the surviving explorers eventually manage to defeat the revived Cybermen, their controller, and robotic insectoids the Cybermats.
The Cyber Controller
They close the doors to the city forever, but with severe casualties.
The Tomb of the Cybermen is available on DVD.
I periodically like to do an update about what I am currently working on, primarily as a prompter for me, but it also let’s you have a glimpse of the eclectic mind of Guru, some may use a less flattering term.
Since the garage has become a storage cube, I only have walkways down either side, at the end of one is my workbench/painting area. On the right is the painting desk and on the left is the figure preparation come work bench.
The painting table with a whole lot of current and ancient projects scattered all over it.
First some 3D fantasy figures given to me by Maenoferren22. These get the odd splash of paint now and then despite not being on the painting priority list.
The Stuart tank with the missing turret now firmly in place almost finished.
Three Imperial Guard “old school” sentinels, again almost finished.
Another section of the U.N.I.T about half completed.
U.N.I.T. officers about half done.
The Tomb of the Cybermen box set just requiring the basing to be completed.
Some Airfix 20mm Australians carrying supplies etc.
Lastly there is the pile gathering dust and spider webs that has not been worked on for a while.
On the other side is the figure preparation area. I detest putting together figures, but these days it is a necessary evil, and allows for a lot of customisation.
A sprue of US Army infantry being put together. These will eventually be a section of Merrill’s Marauders for use in a Burma WW2 campaign.
The set of Dr Who headless Monks. Completing my Dr Who collection was a priority of this year.
The second Dr Who box set based and ready for undercoating.
Brother Vinni’s jungle girls for use as my F28 Sci-Fi rules team. These are definitely NOT PC.
A converted “Sly Marbo” that you will see soon. Should have been on the painting table (see why I lose turrets).
A toy jeep “smashed up” to use as a wreck for some SAS units down the track. More of a concept try than anything else. At $1.95 I will buy some more for jeep wrecks.
Part of another major project for this year some Home Guard on bicycles being put together.
British Commando command figures including medic, officer and forward observer.
Fourth section of the Australian Jungle Division undercoated and ready for painting.
US Army figures put together and undercoated (except 1).
Pack mules for Bolt Action artillery limbers.
Commando 3″ mortar and Vickers MMG to put together.
More Commando figures with Vickers K LMG’s this time.
Finally some Village Inn figures – a Kickstarter from Midland Miniatures. i will put these away as they require the internals of a village inn to be built and this is not a priority at the moment. I have looked at a few kits lately so this may change as I keep looking at my small collection of French Musketeers and Cardinal’s guard rather fondly!
From my perspective the continuation of the Dr Who figures is well in line with what I set myself out to do. Starting the Home Guard is also one of the major projects for this year. The Commandos and Australians figures are parts of “work in progress” so I also happy with where they are at.
As for the rest – Guru will always get distracted. Just a fact of Guru’s life and I have learned to live with it!
In dealing with all that Alien species can throw at the earth U.N.I.T. troops on the ground need all of the support that they can get.
Fortunately reinforcements have arrived as the war ravages on.
The current U.N.I.T. sections are being reinforced by a light mortar which rains havoc on their enemies.
They also have a missile launcher or bazooka.
It is about time we had some more enemies of the Doctor and U.N.I.T. so tomorrow I will introduce some opponents from way back intgo the time of the Second Doctor!
More grunts for the grinder.
Tomorrow some support units for the infantry sections.
After the memory foam mattress not working I decided to give up on the Stuart tank and work on some support teams for my Dr Who U.N.I.T. while painting the black edges on the base I dropped the paint brush and you guessed it:
Re-united once more!
I will patch the drill hole on top of the turret and give it a quick undercoat before anything more happens to it!
Well, sometimes things just don’t go to plan. This was meant to be a post on my second Stuart tank. After much filing, filling, glue and drilling I finally had the tank and turret almost finished. All I needed to do was to fill in a few holes on the turret with green stuff and it was ready to undercoat and paint. I had just been working on the turret about ten minutes before and I couldn’t find the #$%&* thing! Half a day later and I still do not have a clue where I put it. I even laid down on my memory foam mattress but that didn’t work either! In the end I went on to something else.
Another project I wanted to finish early this year was my WW2 British Commandos. I always dread putting together plastic figures so tackled that first.
Each section has an NCO and five Commandos. All, including the NCO, are armed with rifles.
There is also another Lieutenant that will join one of the squads in place of the NCO if desired.
I am still waiting on 2 Vickers K machine guns to arrive for each section to complete them. These together with the six rifles of the rest of the section will make an excellent fire support platform.
I am also waiting on the support group box to arrive.
The PIAT arms are significantly better in the Allied Commandos pack than the older British Commando set, so I put a new PIAT team together using these. The PIAT is larger and is attached to a right arm which makes it a lot easier to see on the table and to put together as well.
War paint! With this quick style of painting I do not go back to do any touch up. You dot even notice these minor errors on the table without significant magnification like in these shots.
With this done I also started putting together some big bazookas for an F28 team, but more on this down the track.
After twelve units and twelve days later, my Ascalabotean (climbers) Army is finally finished. The numbers of units grew over that time but I am happy both with how they have turned out and how quickly I have been able to get them done, especially considering that a Watchtower, a 20mm Arab Army for “Men Who Would be Kings” and a 28mm Stuart tank have also been finished during that time!
The large planet of Tonitrua Lacertis has the largest but also the most primitive population. Living in small tribes the primitives are protected from the many predators by the “Alveare Domini”, a large-like predator that roams the surface in search of prey, but seems to also have a psychic link and almost a mother-like instinct to protect the Tonitrua.
The war-like Tonitura are only more than happy to assist the other species in defending the planet and moons of Ascalabotes, but will not travel “off system” as they hold their land and the “Alveare Domini” in such reverence they will not leave them. Those that have been forced to do so have died as a result of severe psychotic episodes, often taking many of their own countrymen with them.
Primitive infantry are numerous, cheap and are extremely difficult to stop.
With the army now finished (we all say that don’t we), here is how they look altogether:
This gives plenty of variety with everything from monsters to “modern” heavy infantry in full battle armour.
There is enough units to run both an army from the Military Elite with “modern” troops lead by a Psycher from the Military Elite, and a native army lead by the battle hardened “Tuthruck”.
I really like how the Wargames Atlantic Lizardmen have come out and will probably get two more boxes to field another three more native units. Not that useful in games terms, but at just four of the twenty-four points of the army, sixty of them will be difficult to deal with.
Some Tonitrua had progressed further along the evolutionary lifecycle and had developed the use of the common language and with their innate hunting skills were excellent scouts and recon unit
Recon units are lighter than Light Infantry and are not very well equipped to take on enemy infantry.
Their main role is to infiltrate behind enemy lines, ambush, and harass enemy units with sniper rifles.
When threatened they are best advised to disappear as stealthily as they appeared.
I nhave decided not to upgrade this unit but could be given Counter Sniper Training, Sniper teams and Veteran upgrades that would make them superb in their role but quite expensive at 7 points.
Unit Leader
Tomorrow the last of the tribal units although two more Horde units will follow down the track.