Stamping on wriggly little things that get away all the time. Like ants or snakes.

I'd noticed that BOLS had gone, for some reason.  And then caught the announcment on TTF.  I hadn't noticed that Feat212 had gone, but it sometimes does not show up on the newsfeed so I wasn't looking for it.

I can see what might be going on here, as suggested on TTF.  Now, like a lot of other people, I just want to know why. 

Pimp my Inquisitorial ride

 Just in case you were wondering about those panels that Scibor do, and what they look like.  And if they match up with the FW =I= doors.  Yes.  But I would put the FW doors in first, as it will save you chiseling the Scibor panels off again to get the FW doors in.  Jus' sayin'.

 The Scibor kit comes with some Land Raider/Rhino compatible with the holes for the doors type panels.  So purchasing FW =I= bits like the Rhino top hatch and back door means I've potentially got wheels for two  squads of IST as well.  Which is nice.   Scibor bits are available from Wayland Games.

 There is a lot of detail on the panels and the usual high standard of stuff on the FW doors.  So this should paint up quite nicely.  And as you can see, the conversion kit means that your Land Raider ends up the size of Minas Tirith.  Still only holds 12, though, But one of them can be Gandalf the White.

 I've included so many pictures of this, not because it is the bestest thing ever ever ever, but because I can imagine some people out there thinking about the Scibor panels for their Land Riader fleet.

 Tangentially,  I think that the Land Raider looks better with the Las Cannon Sponsons mounted at the rear of the vehicle.  But that means that using the side doors will mean some awkward moments, hence them being forward mounted here.  I can imagine that working for the =I= requires at least the amount of brain power to tell you not to disembark in front of Anti Tank weaponry.  Not sure what that says about Spaze Murheens.

Curious Constructs Cannon Kickstarter (can't resist illiteration)

Just in case you have a DKK army in need of more weapon carriages or have an amount of Hvy Weapon options left from your HWS kits.  Try these.   And the kick starter is here.

Legio Astorum

4* General Zhukov's prayers have been answered.  Due to the confirmed presence of elements from the Traitor Legions on Devos IV, he is being supported by a detachment of Knights and Warhounds from a Titan Legion.

All fantastic work by Piking

Nurgle's curse and hobby mojo.

I'm off ill today.  I have a new boon and am able to exhale nurlings.  Praise be to papa etc etc.

What this has let me do is:

a) get my four legged friends valeted.  One is half spaniel and smells baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.

b) get in the garage and fetch stuff into the house where it is warmer.

I have found a number of unfinished projects.  And half the bits for a number of new and exciting projects to begin and then forsake.

But do not dispair or be downhearted !  For I, Zzzzz have begun another half baked misbegotten project; a while ago, browsing a well known auction website, I came across some previously loved Iggies (Previously loved in a Turkish Prison kinda way).  So I have begun 'saving' as many of these cheap bargin iggies as possible, mostly with backpacks and other bits left over from previous projects. 

I'm looking at two smilies here; one is I'm giving new life to some pretty badly battered iggies and the other is I'm using things from the bits box.  :)  :) 

The third smiley is that with the gift of foresight (as well as the nurgly one), when I was on ebay I got some commissars and (previously loved) ISTs as well.  So, that's another guard army then.  Good.

Search and Rescue

John, over at JTS, has mentioned here that our (ie for the United Kingdom of Great Britian and Northern Ireland and its terrirotial waters [and quite often a little further than that]) Search And Rescue (SAR) capability is being taken away from our armed forces as a cost saving.

So, if you didn't know, our current SAR capacity was developed in WW2 in order to pick up pilots who found themselves in the English Channel; so it began with small fast boats, Sunderland Flying boats and so on, developing into the capability we have today.  Interestingly, as soon as helicopters became operationally available, our aircraft carriers (remember them ?) would have a SAR helo in the air whenever the fast air was being launched or recovered.  And if you ever wondered what ASW helos were for, they followed the carrier group keeping an eye on the sonar shadow.  But back to SAR.

In most places mountaineers and climbers go, it pays to have personel insurance in case you do have to be rescued.  As the rescue is inevitably followed by bill for helicopters and ambulances, followed by the clinical or hospital bill.  So Brits heading off to the Rockies, European Alps or Hymalian mega ranges almost always take out insurance.

Here in the UK, most people don't bother. Rescue is free and healthcare, as David Lloyd George intended, is free at the point of delivery.  3rd party cover (in case you drop a rock on the person below you) is as far as most people go.  Here I am, in the Cairngorms, not being rescued (but yes, I have had  ride in the big yellow taxi, with the same climbing partner, too !)

So there are two completely separate fuck ups waiting to happen; one is that our military pilots loose the rescue training.  There may well still be training carried out after the privatisation, but it will then be at cost (ie just practice, not incidently really rescuing members of the public at the same time) to the public purse.  The second is that the rescued party will soon (maybe not this year, but I doubt I'll find anyone willing to put money on it not happening) have to cover the costs. As previously mentioned; we in the UK are not good at recognising that someone pays for everything; Climbers are recalcitant and truculent butch and I can see the spectre of future courtcases looming.  Ho hum.

There is another important part of (military) mountain rescue capability that hasn't been mentioned at all; that is the non-flying bit of the RAF Mountain Rescue; their purpose is to search military air accident sites, primarily for the people (or bits thereof) but also for the weapons systems and secret bits (or bits thereof) that one perhaps doesn't really want to go anywhere near (ie I know of at least one USAFE airfame to 'land' in the Cairngorms was armed).  And of course, having these teams in situ must greatly aid the volunteer MRTs.  And if there's ever something like Locerbie again, there are expereinced people to lead the called out Military Aid to the Civil Authorities.

But hey, the government obviously arn't interested in 'just in case' or supporting the Ambulance Service in remote areas, as the current system does and the new private one will not.  Discussed here.  Doubtless it will be another lesson relearned at a later date. 

Palladians VS Bloodcoats

Operation Ewbehin

General Horpan ("Danny Bloodcoat") is no fool.  As he sees 72 Army Group's assets accumulate, he knows he must act before the imperium simply swamps his PDF.  His political leadership has promised direct military aid, which he is content to assume for the time being will be from other worlds with a similar separatist outlook.  But he doesn't want a stand up fight just yet.

He knows that 17 Korps is gearing up for an offensive and break-out of the Randstat area.  Operation Ewbehin is designed to prevent 17 Korps from focussing its fighting strength in one place.  He has hived off a (not insignificant) part of his own fighting strength, based around 2nd "Hunter" Div of the PDF; one of four brigade combat teams (one of which includes 2 Battalions of 99th 'Bloodcoat' Regiment), a battalion aviation wing and full support service battalion. 

As 18 and 32 Korps are shipped from Acer to Benq behind 17 Korps' bridgehead, the PLA's 2 Div is not enough to face 17 Korps in a meeting engagement.  However, 17 Korps is not in the most wonderful of positions and it will take a number of months to get 18 and 32 Korps into good order and commence operations.  So one of Danny Blood coats four formed Divisions is more than enough to pose a serious threat to the Imperial forces; one that they cannot ignore. 

Operation Ewbehin is potentially a masterstroke.  He has positioned the PLA's "Hunter" Div to the SSE of the Randstat area, the imperial forces must move to counter the Division or leave their soft underbelly exposed.  Furthermore, to prevent the Division being a permanent thorn in said underbelly, they must commit significant forces to neutralising the threat.  Hunter Division is under orders to continue to fall back in face of the enemy, drawing them South and away from the expected main thrust of their campaign, towards Xyphonica in Central Benq.  If at any point the enemy appears to be loosing interest then the Division is to turn and bite.

4* General Tolstoy knows he cannot afford to leave Hunter Div threatening his southern flank.  Keeping 901 (Cadian) and 902 (Kreig) Div to secure his position he sends 903 Inf (Valhallan) Div directly against the Op Ewbehin forces.  904 (Corbanian) Inf Div and 905 (Palladian) Inf Div to pincer the rebels and bring them to battle.  Even if the result is only that they are scattered, then the threat posed by the remains of Hunter Div is much reduced and would no longer preclude 17 Korps from concentrating on its main objectives.

903 Inf Div contains several units in adminstrative terms only.  Some are combat ineffective, one is actually on the other side, others are reduced strength.  The Valhallans look like easy pickings.  Hunter Div's sub units get carried away with local successes and over extend themselves, allowing the Cobanians to dig in and the Palladians to hammer them from the west against the Corbanian's prepared defences.  Gen Tolstoy's plan has worked.  To an extent.

The remains of Hunter Div still need to be pursued, possibly for up to three months, to force them well out of 17 Korps TAOR.  The Corbanians are recalled to Randstat to prepare for the assault inland whilst the Palladians are trasked with mopping up the remains of 2 Div.

It's never that easy; on their home turf the Devos PDF scatter and reform like mercury on a marble floor.  The remains of the 4th and 5th Battalions of the Bloodcoats now see themselves as the elite of the PLA; they have, as they see it, tied up three Divisions of the Imperial Guard for a time and still have one Division cashing them.  The Palladians have found that the most effective strategy is to simply attack in overwhelming force whenever they catch up with the stragglers.  As winter drags on, men and machines are being worn down by the travelling and the weather.   And the Devos PDF forces of 2nd "Hunter" Div, despite beign the hunted now, still turn and bite far too often to be left.

After Action Report:

As with so often when chasing an elusive enemy through close territory, the ambush started when the Palladians set off a mine or IED.  The village of Grenuid would normally have a population of nearly a thousand, a veritable metroplis for this area.  But the whole place had a deadly quiet that put the men of the 4th Legionary Regiment (4LR) on their guard.  Already both of the vanguard platoons were understrength through previous actions.  They would proceed quietly and above all, cautiously. 

2Lt Alterious Simon had been with his platoon since embarkation and had done well (in the eyes of his superiors) through transit and training on Acer and made quite a good show of the actions against Hunter Div as a formed unit earlier in the war.  Search and Destroy missions, due to their nature were being rotated between rifle platoons.  He theoretically has an SPG battery in support, but in reality, in this type of fight, he is reliant on his sentiel support and platoon of Lt Olympus Serverous, moving up in supporting formation. 

The tactic they have developed in the last two weeks is to travel though likely ambush areas, reacting with overwhelming firepower to any attack and hoping for the best.  Generally, by the time the SPGs or Vultures have arrived, its all over. 

This morning, unforunately for them, it's 2Lt Simon's Command Squad who have fallen foul of the guerillas, antipersonnel mines have killed or disabled three of his command team.  Using the explosions as their que, a Bloodcoat ambush team break cover and rush forward, only to be engaged by the Sentinels, whose pilots had been insulated from the blast, dust and fury of the explosions.  The sentinal troop's barrage of frag rockets killed or disabled five of the enemy.  It is presumed that the last man fled.

Unbeknownst at this time, a Bloodcoat OP was just in front of where the sentinels had reached.  They called down artillery fire on to the platoon position.  Dispite being packed in quite tightly, casulaties were light, but unfortunately included 2Lt Simon. Lt Severous' platoon was moving up in support as the enemy OP engaged the sentinel troop with Heavy Stubber fire.  Whilst the stubber fire did no real damage, it allowed one of the enemy to destroy a sentinel with a melta bomb.

Lt Severus' platoon won a firefight with a Bloodcoat squad at the entrance to this part of the village, the sentinels fired on their ambushers but lost another callsign to melta bomb thrower.   All of this took place under intense artillery fire.  Indeed the artillery was the biggest killer on the battlefield.  At no point did any Palladian unit even falter, (not even their attached ratlings).  But the prosecuted their mission through the artillery barrage and the ambush squads.  By fighting through and continuing to counter attack, they avoiding becoming coralled in the killing zone.

As it was, the Bloodcoats sophisicated ambush (using infantry squads, mines or IEDs and artillery, influcted 50% plus casualties on the vanguard.  However, the prize was that 4LR were able to hand over a captured witch to the Ordo Hereticus.  This would earn Lt Severus the heartfelt thanks of the Inquisition, which doubtless would do his career no harm at all.

Thanks to Col Scipio for the ARR - he might post a slightly more technical one, indeed might have already.  Palladians by Col Scipio and Bloodcoats by Mr Lee.