SUPER SHODDY!

Another quick post to point up the "Shoddy Tank" building activities of Lead Adventure Forum member "Bearwoodman", who has taken the 2019 Modelling Challenge and translated it, through space and time (and as already mentioned HERE) into the 40K universe, resulting in the first recorded example of a "Super Shoddy":

Moshe Dayan approves! (see this LINK)

It remains to be seen whether any variant of "Super Shoddy" will make its way on to the Hereford VBCW 1938 battlefield, although there is already a great deal of popular pressure within Ludlow for a fully equipped armoured division of "Super Shoddies" ("We want eight and we won't wait!). With the development of the "Bearwoodman variants", however, there must now be concern that Hereford is falling significantly behind in the worldwide (indeed, universe wide) AFV development race. Such concern is allayed only in part by intelligence received of the construction of at least one new very strange vehicle by HM Government during these last few weeks (blogposts to follow)...

Full LAF link HERE!

MODELLING CHALLENGE 2019 GOES 40K!

A (wholly self-indulgent) short note to record, via the annals of LAF poster and intergalactic time-traveller "Bearwoodman", the extraordinary future success of the subject of the Hereford1938 Modelling Challenge 2019, the (haphazardly) armoured products of the Shezuan Ordnance Depot and Delivery Yards ("SHODDY"):

A Shoddy Tank production line, no longer on Earth - but on some 40K Outer World.
Baneblades, Stormblades, Leman Russ, Chimeras - just who needs them now? 

It is clear that neither time nor distance has altered the fundamental VBCW design precepts of SHODDY, as recorded by Bearwoodman himself: 

"Despite the fact that the original Mark 1 was generally considered a bit rubbish even back in 1938, the SHODDY Directors have reasons to believe that the design could be a success in the 41st Millenium. Consider:

- A gun so inaccurate its maximum effective range is only around 100m (or 72 inches at 1/56 scale) - perfectly adequate for the futuristic battlefield;

- Slow speed and frequent breakdowns - mobility is less of a concern when most battles consist of both sides lining up in front of each other within shouting distance and blasting away;

- Thin armour - why do you need armour when you have the blessing of the Emperor/gifts of Nurgle/the benefits of Reanimation Protocols (delete as appropriate)?

- A turret so small it surely cannot accommodate both the breech of the main armament and the crew (38,000 years after the Shoddy Mk.1, this is now [GW] turret design orthodoxy);

- A very reasonable price - in fact buyers can acquire 52.42 Shoddy 40,000s for the cost of one Leman Russ (at current UK prices) making it attractive to Adeptus Mechanicus bean-counters and frugal xenos invaders alike..."

See the full LAF thread HERE !!

We're not in Hereford now, Dorothy. A long time after 1938,
a prospective customer eyes up a "40K Shoddy Tank."

ARMOUR MODELLING CHALLENGE 2019 - THE RESULTS!

At the start of a New Year (if you're living in the alternative, non 1938 timeline), it's worth looking back at the results of the 2019 Armour Modelling Challenge. The full backstory - of Elstree Industries and it's disastrous sub-contract with the Schezuan Ordnance Depot and Delivery Yards ("SHODDY") can be found HERE. The challenge was simple : to convert a piece of cheep (i.e. so cheap it couldn't even afford a different vowel) Chinese plastic - given away FREE to players at the Spring 2019 Big Game - into an acceptable looking (nay, wonderful looking) VBCW(ish) tank.

The 2019 Armour Modelling Challenge followed hard on the heels of the 2018 Maritime Modelling Challenge - see HERE - and produced the following results:

Clive replaced the original "too thin turret" with a spare plastic turret from an out of scale armoured car, then slapped on lots of yellow paint and added some spare tank commanders and Automobile Association decals sourced
from Ebay. Unfortunately, real time testing of the resultant formidable piece of armour did not go too well....

Alan kept the original turret, but compensated by adding an outsize barrel, machine gun and hedge cutter accessory,
then disguised everything with a snazzy 1930s three colour dazzle camouflage scheme. Excellent stuff, even though
this particular "Shoddy" tank spent most of the Mortimer's Cross game breaking down..

Roo "went to town" on his creation, replacing the original turret and adding lots of inventive "bitz" to produce
a Flamethrower Tank! It looks like the rear gubbins is made up of a piece of sprue and the back end of a Lledo
tanker, while the remainder seems to be plastic card and tubing. Consistent with the ineffective results of every
 other "Shoddy" tank at the Mortimer's Cross game, however, the Flamethrower Tank stopped an AT shot
 relatively early on, and ground to a halt at an ineffective distance from anyone (other than a Hereford Police
AT Gun, which it then completely incinerated, just for fun). However:

....Alan was not content with just one "Shoddy Tank" design. Here on his modelling table are the pre-paint shots
of not one, but three "Shoddy variants" - a Stug like Assault Cannon (original turret removed and replaced with
a scratchbuilt commander's hatch), the "Fat Barrel" variant already seen painted, and then (original turret removed
and body excavated)  a truly splendid "Armoured Assault Multi-Mortar with Mine Clearing Attachment".
That left just the painting to do:

The completed Armoured Multi Mortar (with Mine Clearing Attachment) and....

The completed Assault Cannon, with a nice tank commander added and various decals from the bitzbox.
Given the consistent paint scheme, it looks like all three tanks were designed to operate together...

Not to be outdone, Roo got down to some serious work....and had the artistic vision to see that, if suitably painted,
the original tank turret wasn't actually out of place/scale as originally feared. This was a marvellous example of
"minimal efficient conversion" i.e. simply chop off one of the original two gun barrels, argue that the remaining
 "offset"tank barrel was a VBCW experiment or field conversion, then slap on a commander's hatch (with radio
antennae and hull machine gun) - and Bob's your uncle. Spray green, forget any time consuming camouflage ideas,
cover in Dark Tone to bring out the detail and........repeat....... 

Roo's Shoddy Tank Assembly Line. A limited edition "Wargames Illustrated" D-Day beachmaster is in the foreground for scale. Again, it looks like these three "Shoddy" tanks are designed (or painted) to operate as a unit, which appears to have taken Alan back - having presumably run out of Shoddy prototypes to modify - to the original 2018 challenge:

What could be more original than a Landing Craft scratchbuilt from a curry container? What with Alan's landing craft, Roo's beachmaster and hordes of expendable "Shoddy" tanks all painted up and ready to serve the interests of HMG, it's almost as if these two suspect a "VBCW amphibious landing" game is coming up very soon....... 

Note: The original plastic tanks were sourced from Ebay, and are still readily available - see HERE for one example amongst many. Note that postage from China to the UK is rather variable, so you may wish to find a UK supplier (and pay a little more than 62p per tank!!). The 2019 Armour Modelling Challenge will remain open for entries (from players or non players) for a while yet..... 

ARMOUR MODELLING CHALLENGE 2019 - FREE GIVEAWAY!

In 2018, we gave you the "Build a Landing Fleet" Amphibious Modelling Challenge. In 2019, we're staying safely on dry land and now give you the "Armour Modelling Challenge 2019" - converting and painting another piece of "cheap Chinese giveaway plastic" into something vaguely acceptable to the AVBCW 1930s battlefield:

The Armour Modelling Challenge 2019

Chinese plastic sourced from Ebay a while ago, but it is in roughly 1/55 scale and it was very cheep. We have ten of these to distribute as a free giveaway to participants in the Spring and Autumn 2019 Hereford VBCW Big Games!

Another view of this potentially deadly AVBCW weapon

The tracks, running gear and armoured body are all fine - it's the turret that's the modelling challenge. Far too lacking in depth to be convincing, and it's got two gun barrels to boot! In fact, about half of these tanks don't even have the turret, just the body and tracks (because some of them came with missiles that one of the Umpires has already snaffled for his forthcoming "BUF Superforce"). 

So - can you scratchbuild a suitable turret and gun barrel, add a tank commander and then give your personalised tank a snazzy 1930s paint scheme ? If you can, the Umpires are content for you to get one up on your VBCW enemies and add them to your Platoon as "special Umpire bonus"! Claim your free cheep Chinese tank at the next Big Game by approaching Clive or Roo and stating - in best newspaper tradition - "You are an Umpire and I claim my cheep Chinese tank!"

VBCW Backstory: Some may have noticed, in recent Big Game Reports, the presence of "tanks" which are curiously hard to identify. For example, the BUF presented some at the Battle of Winforton Pontoons:

"Hull down" - BUF Tank Force waits for Sir Gilbert and his Anglican allies

These tanks were in fact manufactured in 1937 by a hitherto little recognised armour producer, Elstree Industries. Well known for being the centre of British film production, Elstree derived considerable inspiration from its American film making cousin, Hollywood, and it's approach to armour authenticity:

An unidentified "Panzer" leads the "Afrika Korps" in Hollywood's "Patton"

What kind of tank is that? A "German military policeman" looks askance as yet
another "Hollywood tank" rumbles by in "The Battle of Britain".

While absolutely "historically accurate" armour types may be the ideal, the Hereford1938 campaign has always taken a somewhat relaxed approach to modelling innovations:

The Battle of Bredwardine Bridge, Spring 2015 Big Game. A totally historically accurate Morris CS9 follows

a Malvern Hills Conservators "Skunk Works" armoured motorcycle (with five HMGs), which in turn

passes the slower moving BUF "Armoured Pepperpot". The latter was the subject of interventionist

threats by that decisive judicial figure, "Judge Dredd", while the last was subsequently the subject of

an infringement of copyright action by Lord Reith of the BBC. Neither "innovation" has been seen since,

possibly by reason of MOT failures.

Some may be concerned that the VBCW should not become "too tanky". Good point. It may therefore be some comfort to know that, such have been the demands of the Civil War upon Elstree Industries' industrial capacity, a reluctant decision was in fact taken to sub-contract some of the work to a factory in Shezuan, China : the Shezuan Ordnance Depot and Delivery Yards ("SHODDY"). Upon receipt of the completed VBCW Order from its Chinese sub-contractor, Elstree Industries was horrified to discover that the "armour" was in fact made of tin, the principal weapon was subject to random misfires, and all units were accustomed to break down at the least provocation. After conversion and painting, your cheep Chinese model may look like and even sound like a tank, but the Umpires' "special rules" shall ensure that, subject to the D6,  it never quite escapes it's SHODDY origins.......