I didn't think 2025 had been a particularly productive year, but that's because I don't keep a log of what I've painted or played. So looking back to compile a retrospective ended up revealing I've done a lot more than I thought. thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2026/01/2025...

They don’t make war movies like they used to. Circa 1971 we made two. Shot on Super 8 by one of our friends. Sadly, the films haven’t survived, but a friend sent me this still yesterday, perhaps the last surviving element. That’s 12 year old me jumping down to knife the German sentry. What a hero!

It's that time of year again and a look back at 2025. This time, rather than a review of everything, this is a focus just on Chain of Command. #spreadthelard #chainofcommand #wargaming thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2025/12/chai...

This is a story about a trip down memory lane that was less about nostalgia and more about testing my current modelling skills. My childhood love affair with @Airfix never ended it appears. thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2025/12/airf...

Far too hectic festive period to have any hobby time, so won’t be able to take part in this year’s #FestiveTankChallenge2025 despite having a Sherman awaiting construction in the stash. However, 2025 didn’t pass without a Sherman being made….three in fact. All for Indian tank brigades in Burma.

Looking back over the year’s new additions for my Second World War 20mm collection and I think this is my favourite. A Lanchester armoured car for the Far East, a 3D print.

Nick’s recent video on the TFL Patreon site reminded me that I still have the first hex and counter wargame I ever owned - Avalon Hill’s Afrika Korps. Bought for me by my dad, so we could play together. The start of many years of happy gaming. Still has the £4.60 price tag, a princely sum in 1973.

Lard Magazine 2025 is now out. Pleased to say it includes a mini campaign - ‘On Nunshigum Ridge’ that I wrote for Chain of Command, set in Imphal in 1944. As always the Lard Magazine is packed full of stuff for a host of TFL rule sets and is excellent value for the price.

We reach a key game in the Scottish Corridor campaign. If the Germans can win this one, then they've won the campaign. Failure and there's a chance the British can earn a victory themselves. Much to play for then as we come down to the wire! thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...

Used some figures left over from one of the Victrix 12mm sets to make up a few stands to represent dug-in squads for my O Group games. Simple enough to make - Milliput for the base and figures cut in half. Good way to use up the additional figures.

Adding a few support options to my US Marines. The bulk of figures are from Eureka but the range lacks most support options so I’ve filled gaps with Kelly’s Heroes and Britannia. A decent fit in terms of size and sculpting style. Although not sure why all the Britannia have a full backpack load.

Hearing new players wondering how to deal with double phases in Chain of Command, so thought I'd put together a blog post with a few tips and thoughts. thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2025/12/deal...

A few years ago, before I got back into miniatures, I was doing a lot of model making in 1/35. On a whim, I decided to see what I could do with the 1/76 Airfix models of my youth using my current modelling skills. This led to moments of sheer madness. Like rebuilding the engine deck of the JSIII….

Lovely table for a big four player Sharp Practice game set during the Peninsular War. French gendarmerie chasing down Spanish guerrillas on a magnificent 18’x5’ table.

Good to get my 10/12mm kit on the table for some O Group action at the club last night. Been playing a lot in 15mm with my opponent‘s former FoW collection, so a nice change to use my stuff. Several comments about how great this scale is for playing WW2 at company level.

A batch of German snipers from AB Figures. I've mixed it up with uniforms to give me choices for which units I can use them with. Nice to have a WW2 painting project that's not repeating the same drab colours repeatedly over and over.

Looking forward to getting these bad boys out for a game of Infamy, Infamy at the club tonight. A bit of interest in the rules at the moment, after a good game a couple of weeks ago. Hope it continues, because this mob doesn't see enough action.

The British attempt to buy time as we near the end of The Scottish Corridor campaign and launch the 'Skirl of the Pipes' counterattack. There's an opportunity to cause delay and even push the Germans back. But it's no easy task. thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-...

I asked Chat GPT to create an image of British soldiers in Normandy 1944 in the style of an IWM photograph. One should have a Bren gun and they should be in action. WTF is this…

We are drawing close to the end game in our Scottish Corridor campaign for Chain of Command. It's coming down to the wire, with victory within grasp of either side. First, the Germans must try to take Colleville....can they do it as the first attempt? thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-...

I ran four participation games of a Chain of Command scenario set on Saipan in 1944 back in January in the Lard Zone at CanCon in Canberra. Pleased to say, it's now available as an article in the most recent issue of Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy #138.

We are back to The Scottish Corridor campaign. This is the eighth game of a possible twelve, so we are coming down to the end game. Much hangs in the balance, but the Germans must make progress in this game to keep up a hope they can stay on schedule. thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-...

Been a bit quiet lately, with my regular opponent travelling overseas, but it doesn't mean I haven't been beavering away on a few projects. thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2025/10/proj...

I’ll be running four Chain of Command games in the Lard Zone at CanCon in Canberra in January. If you fancy some gritty, late-war urban combat on a 20mm table, this might be of interest.

Great looking house. Just saying 😉

Appropriate time of year to be reading this. Entire forests must have been consumed printing it, but to call it comprehensive would be understatement. I think it’s in 9 point and at 500 pages, that’s a lot of words. Half way through and excellent so far.

The next game in The Scottish Corridor campaign for Chain of Command sees the Germans take a second crack at pushing the British out of Mouen. They have the numbers, but it didn't help them last time. Full game report here: thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2025/09/the-...

I picked up two dozen of Eureka's 28mm Ragged Continentals at the MOAB show in Sydney last October. Finally getting around to putting paint on them. Lovely figures, full of character.

A few German style buildings to add to the collection, they've been a long time coming, for too long my 'German' tables have resembled Normandy. No longer. thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2025/09/germ...

Finally getting around to adding some German style buildings to the collection. These are 20mm MDF from Sarissa Precision. Added stuff like chimneys, thatch and roof tiles. Now my German tables can start to actually look German, rather than Norman.

Game 6 in The Scottish Corridor campaign for Chain of Command and the British mount a local counterattack to delay the Germans. It's a return to Le Valtru, where British fortunes have been mixed. A short and very sharp encounter.... #spreadthelard thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2025/09/the-...

New buildings for Germany and the eastern front. Tinkering, as usual, with a few Sarissa 20mm MDF buildings. Two German farms and barns and two of the Russian townhouses. Planning on playing the CoC campaign Westwind Konigsberg. Did it with Normandy buildings the first time. #spreadthelard

Enjoyed a long chat with Richard Clarke from Too Fat Lardies talking about Chain of Command, the blog and particularly the game reports. It's on their Patreon site (and currently only available to subscribers). www.patreon.com/posts/tactic...

The Scottish Corridor campaign continues. The panzer grenadiers are showing how capable they are of inflicting casualties on the British and morale has slumped accordingly. Can the British manage to stall the Germans, but avoid paying a heavy price? thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-...

Found an excellent use for a spare figure from a set of British engineers from AB Figures. Wasn’t sure if there was any use for a man hammering in a sign. Then I read the new rules for Mines in Verges in CoC v2. End result, one new game marker and one less unpainted figure in the lead pile.

The Scottish Corridor campaign for Chain of Command continues and we move back to the opposite flank, where the Germans continue their push into Le Valtru. The British held them off the first time, can they succeed at the second attempt? #spreadthelard thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-...

Bots will be bots. I shouldn’t be too surprised that a game report entitled ‘Escort Duty’ gets picked up by a bot that then posts a comment with links to a Turkish escort agency. I’m not saying there aren’t wargamers to whom that’s of interest…..I just don’t think that’s why they visit my blog.

Hoplites sir, thousands of ‘em. Well, 1200 to be precise. Big game set during the Greek Punic Wars on a 15x6 table with an awful lot of figures. Our host really knows how to put on a monster game….

Having added extra figures to my HYW we had enough for a 300pt game of Midgard using the Agincourt lists from @mogsymakes.bsky.social. We went for a very historical scenario of the battle to see how well the rules would play out against the historical result.

More Chain of Command markers now that v2 has inspired me to upgrade. These are for AFVs this time. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary, just an attempt to have things blend in more with the table and yet still serve their function. thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2025/07/afv-...

While I was painting Saxons I took the opportunity to paint more armour, this time Perry HYW French men at arms. I’ve always wanted to do bigger battles and have several Perry boxes of unpainted figures. Now as good a time as any to paint them. Why? Trying to do Agincourt using Midgard on Friday.

So, we make plans, we embark on projects, we finish projects, we fail to finish projects and then sometimes a project just comes out of nowhere.....a gamer's tale. thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2025/07/saxo...

A few more wounded senior leader figures for CoC. When a leader takes a wound that effects him for the remainder of the game I’ll replace the original figure with one of these. Glorified game markers essentially. Conversions of various AB and PSC figures. #spreadthelard

A quick Chain of Command Replen Point for my Japanese. More spare figures from the Airfix Jungle Outpost, the gift that keeps on giving.

Back to the Scottish Corridor campaign and the British mount a limited counterattack to disrupt the German timetable. We return to the site of our first game at Bas de Mouen. The game was short, but I wouldn't say it was sweet. #spreadthelard thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-...

Russian guns in a Sydney park, a case of 19th C recycling. Surplus captured guns from the siege of Sevastopol were sent around the empire, these are not the only ones I’ve seen dotted around Australia. Ex-Russian naval 36 pounders in this case.

The Ibis. From holy to lowly. To the ancient Egyptians it was sacred. To the modern Australians it is the ‘bin chicken’.

The publication of Chain of Command v2 has inspired me to dig into the spares box and make up markers for a few of the new mechanics – like objective markers and Replen points. thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2025/07/obje...

An update of a popular post on how to deal with panzergrenadiers in Chain of Command, now that CoCv2 has added a few more tactical options to the tool box. Whether you consider them overpowered or just powerful, they are not invincible. thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2018/12/deal...

A Plastic Soldier Company 1/72 Churchill that's been sitting in the paint queue. No longer. I have one of most variants, but needed two of the same for a recent Scottish Corridor game (I was going to proxy a CS 90mm gun, but didn't need it in the end). This time I'll be ready with the right one.