A little progress.......

 Greetings all. I hope 2020 is treating you well...... OK maybe not ‘well’ but you’re hanging in there, it won’t be forever, soon it will be a weird memory that those that didn’t experience it won’t really understand (and hopefully will never have to).

 Talking of things that are hard to understand without being there I just watched a new mini series on Netflix about WW2. The Liberator is about Felix Sparks and his role in the 45th Infantry division (nicknamed the Thunderbirds) and their path through the later period of WW2. It follows the characters through Italy via Anzio and then during Operation Dragoon (landings in the south of France) and into Germany including their discovery of concentration camps and the horrific practices undertaken there. The interesting thing about this particular American unit was that it was made up of Native Americans, Mexicans and Americans, people who at that time in their home country wouldn’t have been able to drink together in the same bar. It was a highly decorated unit, that fought hard throughout these campaigns but also has a number of accounts of war crimes attached to them. I can’t comment on these as I can’t even imagine what the war was really like but they are covered in the series and more information about the unit can be found here (it’s Wikipedia so I presume it’s accurate but better sources are probably available). One of the most stunning things about this series is the way it was shot using something called Trioscope. This leads to an almost animated, cel shaded look that adds a beauty to what are horrific and frightening events. I really enjoyed it and think it was well worth watching if you have Netflix.

Apart from that I’ve achieved a few things but nothing of any great measures. Whilst I’ve been interested in WW2 gaming for a while I’ve never had much interest in the Naval actions. When I bought the excellent Post Captain from ODGW games I noticed that they also had a WW2 Naval set called General Quarters 3, luckily I managed to have a flick through a friends copy and was intrigued by how they seemed to work. I started reading various Osprey books and was soon swamped by how complicated and vast the subject was so I asked for some help on a starting point from the publishers forum and ordered a copy from the only people in the U.K. that stocked them. The forum response was excellent and very helpful but the company selling the rules were not. When I used their website I noticed a couple of odd things like the fact that they charge a surcharge for using PayPal (not allowed by PayPal and also by U.K. legislation), when I asked them about it they were flippant and claimed PayPal was expensive (they’ve obviously never had a business bank account) and that they were well within their rights. Shockingly after I politely pointed out that they couldn’t do what they were doing, they said my card wasn’t working and then cancelled my order without contacting me (I’d joked with my wife that I’d never get what I ordered but was still slightly shocked). Annoyed and slightly flummoxed I gave up on ever obtaining the rules, but a few days later I had a better idea.

 I contacted the creators, ODGW, and after a couple of explanatory emails managed to set my wife up as a seller of their rules. I’m still waiting for our first shipment to arrive (due on Friday) and will post about them excitedly as soon as they arrive. I haven’t mentioned the original U.K. company but they are well known and if you go onto many of the gaming forums there are lists of people having problems with their non-existent customer service and refusing to buy anything from them. ODGW make excellent rules (and are lovely people) and I don’t think that the behaviour of an unconnected rubbish company should have an effect on whether people in the U.K. get to play their games so hopefully soon I can change that.

 When I found GQ3 I also found a game called Action Stations by David Manley which focuses on the coastal actions that were prevalent throughout the war and this also piqued my interest. To work out what scale I would play GQ3 in I decided to order some Figurehead 1:6000 destroyers from Magister Millitum and whilst doing so I noticed that they also sold 1:1250 coastal ships and bought a pack of these to see what I thought.

Well the two packs I ordered arrived promptly and with mixed results. Not surprisingly the 1:6000 destroyers were tiny but my key issue was that they are fixed to their bases (and yes I do want to put them on bases, but my bases not pre-cast metal ones. I know - picky) and whilst I managed to remove some of them I’m not sure they are worth the effort. The 1:1250 coastal ships were a different matter though. I bought a pack of Vorposternboot (converted German trawlers) and they are brilliant. Cleanly cast and frankly charming I quickly based up one of the ships and got it painted.

They are based on pill bases from Fluid 3D workshop and then I used Vallejo plastic putty to sculpt the water effects, which for a first go I’m quite happy with. Painting was very easy and I just needed to pick out a few details like depth charges  and lifeboats and the little ship came to life. I may have painted the water too brightly as I used a tiny bit of GW Talassar Blue contrast paint as a wash but when I placed them onto my sea gaming mat they worked quite well.

Apart from that I’ve put together a pair of Hornisse or Nashorns (large German self propelled guns) and Ferdinands (like a stug on steroids) which can be used on the Eastern front or in Italy and being relatively  few in number, in reality and in Battlegroup (I believe they are both restricted choices), I may do one of each for each theatre. Below is the first of my Hornisse (Hornet) which were also called Nashorn (Rhino) very much a sit and wait ambush vehicle.

That’s about it, I’ve dabbled in a few other things and regularly stare at my lead mountain trying to work out what I can do about it. As the Welsh fire break action has ended I should be able to get my wife to go to the post office for me and will start chipping at the surplus of my hoard later this week.

 I mentioned briefly before that I’d had a bit of a slip in the garden and damaged my hand. I was very lucky and did no serious permanent damage to myself. This has healed but has left a meaty scar and I’ve been slow getting back into doing hobby stuff but hopefully I’ll pick up speed now. 

Thank you for taking the time to read through this, I hope you’re being more productive than I am currently, stay safe.

BALM

My forces for Operation Torch - or what have I been doing during COVID?

 Greetings all, I hope you are still coping with the unusual times we’re currently experiencing. Previously I’ve mentioned that my actual progress in my hobby is not very well represented by my blog posts - a mixture of frustration at computers (blogger is very hard to use on iPad recently - as I type this I cannot actually see what I’m writing and when I try and put pictures in a minute there will be swearing) and a feeling that it just isn’t that interesting. Well recently I’ve decided to give in and bore any poor reader who found their way here because if nothing else it’s a small distraction from the real world. 

Since just before Christmas I’ve been taking random boxes of 15mm tanks and vehicles I have stockpiled and trying to at least move them forward by sticking them together and basing them. I haven’t progressed to painting partly as I’ve lost my painting mojo and I was also stuck trying to match my basing colours with my chosen gaming mat (Cigar Box battle mats Arid region - it has a ground colour of a beige and pink flesh tone in it and sparse foliage scattered across it) but I think I’ve solved that problem.

For Operation Torch I wanted to collect Italians and Germans with British and Americans opposing them. My American platoon is already based along with a few vehicles like an M8 Scott, M1 Scout car as they were originally for Normandy but I decided to repurpose them and build a new platoon for Overlord at some point in the future. Not everything is finished and in some cases there a few more waiting to be built but this gives a good example of what I’m intending to have as a final force. So we have M3 Lees, early M4 Shermans, halftracks (only 1 but more to come), trucks, T30 halftracks (75mm howitzer), M1 scout car, various jeeps (spotters and a radio version) and Beeps, Portee’d anti tank guns and M3 Stuart’s. So still a number of vehicles to finish or tart up with sculpted details and crew but definite progress.

The British are the least completed (maybe started is a better term) force but if you look carefully at the pictures of the drawers I keep my WIP models in you can see 6 pounders and a couple of scout cars (you can also see some of my limited armour for VBCW including a T1 cavalry tank and some Konflikt ‘47 walkers in their original, and honestly much better, scale). I will get back to the Brits but as I had my American infantry re-headed and based it seemed sensible to focus on them to get a working allied force done.

For the Axis I have Germans and Italians. The Italians are represented by a Bersaglieri platoon (half done and charming in their pith style sun helmets and ostrich feathers) and a range of vehicles from M41 tanks and semoventes, dovunque 35 lorries and Lancia 3RO 6-ton trucks including two (one pictured) with 90mm guns mounted on them, TL-37 artillery tractors and a section of motor cycle based rifleman for a bit of mobile reserve. I could still do with some Sahariana vehicles to act as a mobile elite force but there’s easily enough for Chain of command, Bolt Action or small games of Battlegroup (the Germans will bolster their forces in bigger games). I also made a Carro commando M41 command vehicle out of one of the FoW plastic M41s. Ive also got a number of infantry guns and support weapons to base up to help give the troops a bit more punch.

For the Germans I have a good range of vehicles to support my intended two platoons of infantry. I’ve based and re-headed one platoon in trench coats (Tunisia was cold at night and very different to the sweltering deserts of ‘41)  and they will have a kradschutzen platoon added to them soon (I have the bikes but not the chaps yet) as I felt they would be very different to the other forces and give a highly mobile but fragile fighting force. The vehicles for the Germans range from Panzer III (mainly J’s) and Panzer IV’s (newly arrived in the desert and a dangerous foe), a Bison (daft and pretty unique but cheap from eBay), sdkfz 6 Diana SPG, various artillery tows (sdkfz 7 and 10’s) and scout cars and the utterly weird SdKfz 254 (minus its aerial frame at the moment as it’s thick and clunky and I think I can do better). There is also  some captured and converted Lorraine schleppers and a Tiger. For command vehicles or particular individuals I’ve sculpted crew members using Peter Pig heads to make them a little bit more ‘mine’ (the panzer commander has a cigarette if you squint at my awful photos). Where turrets aren’t attached that is because on taking them out of storage one of the magnets has become detached and they’re waiting for the glue to dry.

So that’s a pretty good overview of some of what I’ve actually done recently. There are quite a few more vehicles to build, base and in a lot of cases add some sculpted details to in order to make them a bit different. I’ve also got to finish the infantry (and buy my kradschutzen troops on foot) but I feel like I’m actually making some progress and hopefully by the time the COVID problem has become more manageable and I’m allowed to mingle again I should be able to start playing some Chain of Command, Bolt Action and Battlegroup in Tunisia. Hopefully I can also use some of the scenery and as much of the forces as possible to play the conflict in Italy (with some key scenic additions like olive groves and Italian style houses) in the future. Apologies for the picture quality and the lack of captions on the pictures but writing this up has probably taken longer than it does to build most of the forces and as I may have mentioned blogger is very hard to use at the moment (I know it’s not just me and that many other bloggers are struggling as well).

Thank you for taking the time to read this, please get in touch and ask any questions or tell me about your own forces for this theatre.

Stay safe and well

BALM

Some 15mm additions.

I've done quite a bit during my recent hiatus. With the weather being awful (spray painting and pictures are currently impossible) I thought I'd put up a couple of pictures of german units I'd finished.



My FoW Whitman Tiger, painted to reward its performance in the battle of the secret stug (see its kill ring). The law of gaming meant its next performance was useless with it being destroyed almost instantaneously.

Again but without the warming sunshine. The turret is magnetised, the crew member sculpted by me.

My 250/1. Built for CoC as its an excellent support choice. The customised Peter Pig and FoW crew are one piece and are removable. The tarpaulin is procreate.

I've also more recently finished my 88 flak and a Grille H (a weird and charming little vehicle that packs a massive punch in BA). I've (at the time of typing) just based the 88 crew and will get them done soon.

Battlefront or FoW 88 flak gun. Carefully put together, painted in camouflage and then obscured with model scenery. I seem to really enjoy making my own life more complicated.

I'll do another base for the wheels and an ammo stack (and maybe a little dug out for the spotter). Plenty of room for the crew to (hopefully) stand behind.

 

The Grille's crew have (like all my chaps) been re-headed with Peter Pig heads. It's a nice, characterful unit that is suitable for my opponents favourite gaming theatre - the eastern front.

Plenty more bite size updates to come as I try to get back up to speed with pictures and progress of my summer; including 15 and 28mm, some new 15mm settings - AVBCW and a whole new project in a new scale - WW2 6mm.

As ever thank you for taking the time,

BALM.

Bolt Action from June.

Some pictures of one of our games in June. It was approx. 3000pts of Soviets versus Germans with a 24 dice limit. The soviets were a classic infantry horde with maxims and varied zis guns, supported by some T-34's and other green tanks (who can tell the red hordes clunky death traps apart). My Germans had a core of motorised veteran infantry supported by mortars, Panzer IV's, a Panther and even a Tiger.

The view from the German side of the table. The church and village are flanked by some farmland and woods.

A little western in appearance this area of the eastern front. The church offered a perfect vantage point and the battle was sure to focus around the surrounding village.

My Tiger rumbles on to be instantly KIA'd by a waiting T34. It was a long shot and caused an instantaneous drop in my (and thus my little chaps) moral.

First blood to the Russians and my Tiger burns merrily, the assailant can be seen to the right of the outbuilding in the distance.

My half tracks rush forward supported by the pz.IV's and the Panther. The infantry dismount and begin the push to dislodge the soviets from the village.

The infantry disgorge from the transport and prepare to meet the oncoming Russians.

The Panther and panzer IV's prowl amongst the trees as they respond to the soviet threat across the village. The burning Tiger a constant reminder that they aren't untouchable.

As the main infantry attack pushes into the village my recon 250 speeds down the left flank to put its small squad in an advantageous position.

The game was a success for the Axis powers even with the Tiger destruction but it was a hard fight with the soviet armour being a tough opposition. Once again I took half tracks in an attempt to use them in BA rather than dismiss them. The tank combat in BA is so simple you can't pin your hopes on them, as I proved with such appalling use of my iconic German super tank. I'm still having a lot of fun with BA, our tables and miniatures are slowly getting prettier. I'm looking forwards to getting the bulk of my Germans done so I can start on my allied forces.

Thank you for taking the time,

BALM.

Panzers and Caravans.

   

     The picture really says it all but just a quick update: I finally received my Jagdpanther and Panther plastic box set (GBX84) from the new Battlefront Nachtjaeger line. So far I've put one of each together with the intention of making 2 Panther G's and 3 Jagdpanthers. The kits are a breeze to construct, although I wish you got a instruction sheet inside (rather than having to rely on the exploded diagram on the back - I think I spotted a mistake and am waiting to hear back from BF). They fit together well with a minimum of fettling. The detail is crisp and plentiful and the sprues come with plenty of additional parts. Included are the IR sights to add them to a 251 UHU platoon (thus the Nachtjaeger link). You also get decals, a sprue of plastic crew and a sprue of metal crew (I think for the Jagdpanther looking at the hatch).

A great dual build kit which makes robust and detailed vehicles.

This Panther will be covered in additional track.

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Apart from the instructions - I'm still not sure about some parts like, what I think is, the ammunition bin on the back of the Jagdpanther (It says it's part on the instructions but none of their completed models have it). The only other thing I didn't like was the moulding marks on the bazooka shields for the sides.

Irritating mould marks on the bazooka shield.

A beneficial side effect of the current deluge of plastic dual-build kits is the ability to use the un-used hull for secondary projects. With the spare panther hull and a bit of hacking you can make dug in tanks for the fall of the reich era.

Simply remove the rear deck (presumably the engine was removed as it was surplus to requirements) and add a few bits of plasticard. More of this to come.

Dug in at a crossroads as a final line of defence - imposing but tactically flawed.

Overall I'm really pleased with them and even though they are more expensive than their PSC counterparts the ability to build the two different vehicles, the ease and robustness of construction and the level of detail makes them superior in my opinion. Last thing is the two die-cast (approx1:87) caravans I got for a quid at a local market. Perfect for scenery in 15mm zombie and modern games. 

Thank you for taking the time,

BALM.