Thursday 4 February 2016

The most prolific defensive terrain in history?

As part of the 6th Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, one of the challenges was to paint your interpretation of defensive terrain....... 

..................so I came up with these out of the unpainted resin box!



Nothing to see here......


Just the pretty flowers.....


Wait a minute, what's that?..........


One of the more controversial weapons of all time.......


The name originates from the practice of military mining........


Seemingly the first mines were developed/used around 1277 by the Chinese.......


Placing minefields without marking and recording them for later removal is now considered a war crime........


The laying of land mines has inadvertently led to a positive development in the Falkland Islands. Mine fields laid near the sea during the Falklands War have become favorite places for penguins, which do not weigh enough to detonate the mines. Therefore, they can breed safely, free of human intrusion. These odd sanctuaries have proven so popular and lucrative for ecotourism that efforts exist to prevent removal of the mines..........

28mm scale, manufacturer unknown...........

80 comments:

  1. Very colorful, Fran.
    Don't mess with the penguins. Sneaky little bastards.

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  2. Re the Falklands penguin sanctuary; I spoke with a (now former) Royal Machine who said they'd suggested those who laid the mines should lift'em, but was told it was against some convention or other (not sure it was the Geneva one) and it infringed their human rights by deliberately putting POWs at risk.

    Funny old world.

    Nice er . . . markers though. ;O)

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    1. Not to get political but if that was the case it should be more like "those who gave the orders to lay the mines should lift them"... You absolutely cannot make POW's work on de-mining, according to the GC, article 32 prohibiting torture, medical experimentation, and unsafe work. Not that it hasn't been done:
      http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/france-s-deadly-mine-clearing-missions-surviving-german-pows-seek-compensation-a-574180.html

      Aaaaanyway, nicely done markers. Although I understand that using mines in wargaming is probably difficult.

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    2. Nothing political about that, you're simply informing.

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    3. Nothing wrong with info at all!

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  3. Very cool idea! Good story about the penguins too...

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  4. Interesting stuff. Never knew there was a connection between landmines and penguins.

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  5. too many people have died from landmines in these regions of mine, Fran. It took a decade to clean all the places, and I think some are still under mines.

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  6. This entry got me thinking! I remember reading that US soldiers liked fields in Normandy that had cows in them. After all if the cows are alive no mines!

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  7. Everyday's a school day thanks to the internet. Nice (and sneaky) additions to the table top Fran.

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  8. As I said before: briliant stuff but I do miss a penguin or two on the bases!

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  9. So we should mine nesting sites for birds?

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  10. Beautiful and deadly terrain all in one, Fran. Interesting about the penguins; guess any predator with enough weight will set them off.

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  11. That is one way to keep humans and the stupid pouchers and such away haha

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  12. Very nice terrain! Thanks for the info on the mines & penguins, very interesting. Cheers!

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  13. Flowers and grass, mines and penguins...lovely job and nice post Fran...

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  14. Those are awesome! Nice work Fran!

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  15. Clever thinking on this one Francis, nicely realised too.

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  16. I never liked penguins...couldn´t get the bloody wrappers off.

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    1. ...oh...the Mines are great btw :-D

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    2. Never liked them since they changed the recipe!

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  17. It's incredible to think that somewhere out there is a committee set up to prevent people removing mines. Good for the penguins though.

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  18. 1st class design and engineering, my General. SAP: No tip toeing thru the tulips.

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  19. "Honey, could you go out back and fetch me some flowers? Now how ever did those things get in our back yard?" Nice work Fran!

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  20. Nice work Fran and very creative!

    Christopher

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  21. Very pretty flowers ;) I can see myself walking up to pick one and then getting blown to little not so pretty pieces.

    btw love your header. meant to tell you that.

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  22. Terrifically inventive Fran. I liked these a lot, and enjoyed the Falklands 'golden nugget' too.

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  23. Penguins defending their nesting area with explosives... cool

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  24. Very creative Fran. And very nice for the penguins!

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  25. Nice bit of thinking going on there Fran! Cool work and great story about the penguins too.

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  26. Excellent Fran! Pretty stands and a history lesson. 10/10!

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  27. A very lovely collection of shrubbery.

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  28. Everybody watch where you step!

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  29. I read somewhere that human beings exist to accelerate the entropy of the universe. Now I'm beginning to see how that might be... :-)

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  30. Very good work, I didn't even notice them...until!

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  31. Nicely done on the shrubs! And I love the idea of an impenetrable penguin fortress guarded by mines. Safest unsafe nest ever.

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