The over indulgence of Christmas is finally settling down and I can share some more bits from over the festive period….
Firstly and the last item completed before Christmas some Italian airforce a C.R. 42 Falco for the Regia Aeronautica. A 1/48 kit as I prefer the larger models for 28mm gaming. A great model although I’m not really a very skilled model maker. The struts being quite a challenge, I went for an early colour scheme more colourful and ok upto sicily. The camo scheme is a very rough interpretation of an 1940’s scheme if you squint it is ok. Annoyingly the kit from Italiari didn’t come with a pilot , but I found one in another kit I had waiting in the pile. I do have quite a lot of plane kits in the pile ?
Next up we did manage to play a couple of zombie games over the holiday, the games are fairly simple with the survivors/protagonists hunting for supplies whilst the zombies / walking dead gradually increase in number as the game progresses.
We at least has some fun and laughs, for those interested in computer games I made this model specially to represent a character in our current favourite game, and yes there are wolves in the forest !
Another shot of the same game with the undead horde arriving stage left as the survivors flee for their lives !
A few of the gifts I generously received as presents
A game I ordered for myself with a view to some ECW campaigning during 2026, I have scanned through and it is more complex than I had anticipated but the map and game kit could be used in a simpler system if required. It does have a specific solo mode so I should persevere and try and get a solo campaign running
My son gave me these for Christmas picked up in a charity shop. The full set of 100 ! A great find and packed full of information and beautiful osprey illustrations.
Now looking forward to 2026 time for a new (extension) project pondering on this as we do, and having enjoyed collecting and painting my Italians I thought I would look for alternative opponents for them. This obviously leads to Greece which I had previously rejected for the Germans as the later Greek campaign was slightly one sided. However, now I have Italians I have plumbed for Greeks in 2026.
I’m sure we all often start with an osprey book …..this is a pretty good introduction
Some great illustrations as above, the Greeks having captured Italian tankettes…๐
Then scanning on the web I found Great Escape games were offering some excellent sale prices on some of their Greek range…job done so I ordered up a mixed starter force. The benefit of the Greco/italian campaigns are they had very limited armour so I don’t really need anymore, I already have the Italian stuff. Mainly infantry for the Greeks but with some older artillery and support. The GEG figures look excellent sculpts very like crusader figures (not at all like their horrible Norwegians!) so that is the first new project for 2026. One of the benefits is I don’t really need any terrain as between Sicily and Norway I can cover most of what I need.
Finally for this last ? Post of 2025 another shortish video really for my benefit to record all the painted stuff I have managed to finish in 2025. Do of course feel free to skip this alternatively enjoy 5 mins of Mozart ๐
Thanks as always and I will likely see you on the other side of New year
Matt❤️
Matt, you managed quite an impressive Christmas haul! The full set of 100 Napoleon at War plates is a great find. I did not realize that there was a second edition Vasey's Unhappy King Charles. Although card driven, it ought to do the trick as a campaign generator. The '40-'41 Balkan Campaign has always been an interest of mine as well. I will be following these developments with great interest.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon the Napoleon at war booklets are really quite good, no figures but I wouldn’t really want them anyway. The rules appear quite complex and require further study. Greeks to follow soon ๐
DeleteNice set of pressies. Zombies,unexpected turn for you
ReplyDeleteEspecially the sheep ๐ zombies will only be a rare occurrence
DeleteA decent haul of goodies
ReplyDeleteThanks Neil plenty to play with
DeleteA very productive Christmas on all fronts there Matt.
ReplyDeleteThanks Phil ๐
DeleteExcellent stuff Matt!
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DeleteGreat work on the Italian plane Matt, and the early colour scheme looks great. some great Christmas presents there, especially the Osprey collection.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lawrence the Osprey collection has loads of detail and some great;pictures
DeleteSome exciting stuff there Matt. I still wait for Postie to bring something wargamey.
ReplyDeleteA fine Christmas …too much food and lots of toys ๐
DeleteThe Italian plane looks great, something about the camo pattern that works so well to my eyes. Some great goodies there and the Napoleonic booklets are a brilliant find, very handy indeed. Zombie game looks rather good as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks Donnie the camo is good enough for me and people will know what it is trying to represent anyway. Might take me a while to look through the booklets !
DeleteGreat stuff Matt - and a nice win against Jon a week ago, that I have just caught up on!
ReplyDeleteThanks Keith….there was some luck involved !
DeleteSurely Christmas is Twelve Days of Feasting so youR calory intake should still be ramping up - like the gifts in the song!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, thanks for sharing something of your celebration and the video of your labours.
All the best for 2026.
Stephen
Two days of feasting was enough for me, now I need a rest and to get back to normal activity. All the best for 2026 as well ๐
DeleteA grand Hobby Christmas you enjoyed there...despite Zombies! Enjoyed the video too!
ReplyDeleteThanks David….even the zombies need some Christmas fun ๐ง
DeleteA great mix of stuff there Matt, from presents through to plans for 2026. I too am currently pondering dipping my toe in the Balkans in 1941 once again, as there is much to offer and something not oft seen on the games table. The Osprey book is excellent, ditto the second one too. Might I recommend 'The Hollow Legions' by Mario Cervi, as it gives a very good idea of how things unfolded from the Italian point of view?
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve I think I will be focussing on 1940 and the Italian invasion, light Italian armour against the Greek defence. Of course when I have the Greeks I might play the German advance as well but I believe it was fairly one sided. Thanks for the recommendation I look that up now ๐
DeleteThe Italians did bring up heavier tanks as the campaign progressed/stalled, but not much use in the mountains of Albania. The Littoral part of the campaign is more interesting to me, along with some potential seaborne landings further down the coast.
DeleteSadly Greek intransigence to hold most of their forces against the Italians in Albania, more or less doomed them from the start. Holding the Metaxas Line near Bulgaria (?) also cost them dear IIRC. For my part, I've played somewhat loosely with the history, having Green & British forces facing off against Italian & German ones, to make it a bit more fun and to field as much nice kit as possible:).
Thanks Steve I got some history to learn and have been watching Utube etc …..from what I understand the British didn’t really fight in the early Italian/greek conflict, apart from the RAF ?
DeleteThe RAF involvement was rather strange IIRC, with them given access to Greek airspace, even though Greece was technically only fighting the Italians. Once Germany invaded, then Allied units were rushed forward, only to rush back again!
DeleteOne of those great 'what if's', given that the units sent to Greece could probably have won the North African campaign in one go, so no Rommel or DAK! Conversely the Germans would have had more units for Barbarossa, so might have 'won' in '41. A lot of conjecture on these subjects of course, but great to ponder.
BTW, Clive Dunn was captured in Greece with his tank unit and spent the rest of the War as a PoW in Austria.
Greece sounds interesting . I know that feeling on aircraft kits ! Happy New Year matey
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave I’ll be starting the Greeks sometime in 2026, a mainly infantry force as they didn’t have much else unless it was taken off the Italians. I’m always keen to give an existing force a new enemy to fight and I do like some early war action. I wish I didn’t have so many other planes to make !
DeleteBeautiful blog
ReplyDeletePlease read my post
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