Star Wars Imperial Assault

Well, historical wargaming has definitely not been a priority since I last finished up my 15mm American Paratrooper platoon for Chain of Command. I have recently discovered the pleasures of painting unique 28mm miniatures. Unlike when painting historicals the whole process is effectively a lot less tedious and monotonous, and while I really want to finish my 6mm Russian Napoleonic army, the idea of having to paint over 300 identical 6mm soldiers isn't something I eagerly look forward to. In any case here below is what I've been busy with for the last couple months, some Star Wars Imperial Assault miniatures :)

R2-D2 and C-3P0

Alliance smugglers

Chewbacca

Hera Syndulla

Ezra Bridger

Gideon Argus

Alliance Rangers

Sabine Wren

Zeb Orrelios

Han Solo

What's currently on the paint bench?

Hey guys!

Recently I have been able to finish up my 15mm American Paratrooper platoon for Chain of Command, and while I have a couple more bits and bobs left on my todo list in order to run a couple campaigns, I have currently gotten completely side tracked. As often happens with us wargamers we like to switch projects and game systems at the glimpse of an eye. So, out of seemingly nowhere, this week I decided to work on two very different sets of miniatures. The first little project was to get started on finally painting some 6mm Baccus Napoleonics which I have been sitting around untouched for nearly a decade. These were extremely quick and easy to paint, in two days I managed to paint up and base 96 little Russians. I'm very pleased with how they turned out and now have on my hands the task of painting a whole bunch more infantry, cavalry and artillery. In any case here are the little fellas!

Completely unrelated to historical wargaming I decided to also set on the side some old Games Workshop Lord of the figures, I have never actually painted 28mm miniatures and found that, while they naturally take a lot longer, it is a lot easier to get some nice realistic highlighting. I tried to work with different colors and have some fun, not aiming to actually replicate how they look in the movies. You seldom get to paint some exciting and bright colors when working on historical miniatures, so this side project was fantastic in helping me stay motivated and to have some fun on the side. I am extremely please on how they both turned out, particularly the fella on the right!

Darrell "Shifty" Powers

Hello again,

For once this won't be a big update on any of my projects, after finishing my 15mm US Paratrooper platoon for Chain of Command I kept thinking: "well I'm theoretically finished, but what could I add?" Well I hadn't bothered painting up a sniper for the platoon, but at the same time I didn't want another prone figure with a scoped rifle covered in foliage (usually what my sniper units look like). So I thought, still keeping Band of Brothers as a reference, what if I depicted Darrel "Shifty" Powers? The man who in Easy Company was famous for having a great set of eyes and being a phenomenal shooter. 

I vividly remember that in Stephen E. Ambrose's Band of Brothers, there was a story about "Shifty"  during the Battle of Bulge which shocked me. He had been able to spot a tree a mile away which had not been there the day before. This "tree" was actually part of the camouflage used to hide a German AA battery, and was later bombarded and destroyed by battery fire thanks to him. So here is my attempt at depicting Shifty along with Sergeant Carwood Lipton, somewhere in Normandy, maybe in the fields leading up to the attack on Carentan? Here they are:

Hope you guys enjoyed this different post!

Finished US Paratrooper Platoon

Hey guys!

So the 15mm Chain of Command onslaught continues... Well after a long break, mostly due to having to focus on my final dissertation and other school work, I finally decided to start a new project altogether, at this point painting more Germans will simply fry my brain. 

As most WW2 buffs I have always been a huge fan of the HBO Band of Brothers mini series, using it countless times as motivation whilst painting. So this summer I decided to get on with it and finished up a little US Paratrooper platoon along with various support options. I decided to experiment with some new photo techniques. Yet, I made the mistake of not using a large enough sheet of paper so was forced to end up making some clumsy cropping which is a shame, but I was still quite happy with the final result and was not bothered too much. Here below is the full platoon with all its support options:

The core platoon is completely different to that of my previous German and British platoons, it consists of only two sections, but is nicely supplemented by a 60mm mortar section (unfortunately without a Junior leader attached). In any case being elite, making them extremely hard to hit, and being equipped with belt fed LMG's and Garands these guys truly pack a punch!

When it came to support options I didn't want to go overboard so I mostly focused on what I am planning on using on some of the campaigns I saw online: an extra squad, a 5 man MMG team, a forward observer for off table mortar support, a medic and finally 4 SMG gunners. If I deem it necessary in the future I might simply paint another Bazooka team and possibly a sniper.

In any case I'm quite happy with the project altogether, I tried out some new techniques and was able to paint these guys pretty quickly so I'm looking forward to trying them out!

Thanks for reading!

German Reconnaisance

Today I finally finished up some more Chain of Command support options for my little 15mm Germans, this time around I painted up some reconnaissance elements. This also gave me a chance to practice painting some more camouflage, as I don't have an airbrush (not only do I not have the space nor do I want to make the investment), it remains quite difficult to make a natural "feathered" camouflage pattern. So, this week I tried two different methods, on the armored car I used a little sponge to paint the camouflage pattern, while on the halftrack I opted to try and go for a more linear freehand pattern. 

Overall I'm somewhat pleased as from a tabletop distance they both look quite good. Nonetheless, I wish I had used lighter colors for the camouflage on the armored car, I used Vallejo Chocolate Brown and Reflective green, but after a wash it was just much too dark overall. While the linear pattern on the halftrack wasn't exactly what I was hoping to achieve, but I suppose for a first try it will do.

The reconnaissance team with the Sdf Kfz 250, a smaller variant of the 251 meant to hold only 4-5 men. Priced at 3 points I find that this is definitely a support option that I might use a fair bit, the ability to zip a small fire team around the battlefield could held unhinge a stalemate.

The armored car is Sdf Kfz 231 (8 rad), armed with a 20mm autocannon (AP 4, HE 6) and a co-ax MG it definitely also packs quite a punch for a vehicle only costing 5 points. Furthermore, its ability to move and shoot the turn it deploys, and moving double on a road, once again gives me a very mobile firing platform for my platoon. The only downside of the 231 is that while it does have 3 armor, unlike the smaller 222 it isn't "small" or "low profile," making it a much easier target for enemy anti tank weapons.

Where does this leave in me in terms of future projects? Currently for the Germans I'd still like to add a 75mm infantry gun, a Panzer III and a Sdf Kfz 222. Whilst for my British I should be able to finish up quite a nice selection of supoort options by the time the weekend rolls round. 

Thanks for reading! :-)

German platoon gets some more support options!

Well... My 15mm German infantry platoon Chain of Command continues to come along. Although I did promise myself that after the last batch of German support options I would be moving on to painting some for the British, I just couldn't contain myself from painting some more support for my little German platoon. So after adding two Stugs, a radio operator, an extra senior leader, and an extra squad, this week I finished up on a whole new batch of new support options! I'm very pleased on the final result, and I really have quite a lot of flexibility now when it comes to deciding what to bring on the table for any given scenario. Here below are the little fellas:

The new support options: engineer teams, a sniper, tripod MG 42, Pak40 and sIG 33 infantry gun.

A close up of the engineer pieces I have painted up. I decided that I would paint 1 compound charge, 1 minesweeper, 2 demolition guys and 1 flamethrower (from left to right). In CoC an small engineer team is made up of three guys, with the option to field a larger squad composed of two separate teams and a junior leader. Thus, I painted up 4 riflemen to act as crew and 1 junior leader in case I decide to field the larger section. This should allow me to be flexible and field any engineer team I deem necessary for a scenario.

While the sIG 33 does cost a whopping 8 points (using the consolidated arsenal), it does have an impressive firepower: 8 AP and 13 HE, making it useful not only against dug in infantry (particularly elite infantry), but also being a decent anti-tank option. 

The classic Pak40, this is a staple German WW2 gun. Coming in as a 5 list five support option (once again using the consolidated arsenal) it has 9AP and 4 HE. While it in the rulebook it was originally a list 7 option, which was much too expensive in my opinion, I can see myself spending 5 points to get this piece on the table, especially if I also bring in an entrenchment.

Finally, two less flashy pieces, are the sniper team and the tripod mounted HMG. Although I'm not sure I'm a fan of snipers in wargames as they sometimes do nothing at all for me, the tripod mounted MG 42 is a great addition as it will be able to throw down some coordinated fire, supporting my other squads.



Disclaimer: I am aware that the incorrect number of crew are on the bases of the guns (Pak 40 should have 2 more crew, same for the MG 42, and the sIG 33 is missing one crew). I decided that I would go down the scenic approach and have some nice looking bases, the other crew members not shown have been running around fetching ammo 😉 I will track the casualties with a mini dice, using a scenic dice holder for them! 

Thanks for reading! 🙋

Finished German support elements

Shortly after having finished up my German platoon last week I've managed to add a couple support elements to give me some new toys and flexibility. While the Stug's were orginally finished back in December, the lackluster lighting didn't do them any favors so I thought I'd include them along with the more recently painted infantry.

Altogether this has given me 27 support points to play around with, quite a significant amount, broken up as following (using the consolidated arsenal):

Regular Infantry section: 4 points
Senior Leader: 2 points
Forward Observer and 8cm mortar (off-table): 4 points
StuH42: 9 points
Stug III G: 8 points

Now where does this leave me in terms of further expansion? Currently waiting for painting remains my vast collection of untouched old Flames of War bits and bobs. And, although I think I'll never field it, I'm currently also nearly done with a Tiger II, which is just an awesome model to own. I'm also looking at adding an MG42 team, a Sig33 infantry gun, a Pak40 and a small section of engineers. 

But, the main issue remains that, while I'm making leaps and bounds with my little Germans, my poor British platoon has received no love in the meantime... I suppose once I get burnt out from painting field grey uniforms I'll jump back to Khaki ;-)

Thanks for reading!

German Platoon Finished!

Well 2018 has started off with a bang in regards to my Chain of Command project! While finishing my German infantry platoon might have stagnated towards the end of last year, they are all ready and done now. I'm quite pleased with the final result, while the overall paint job was nothing special, I think that they hold their own when placed on the tabletop. It has to be once again mentioned that at 15mm achieving a good tabletop standard does not require exceptional talent, in my experience quite a lot comes down to basing, which can really make or break the overall result. I've seen too many figures that have static grass glued directly to the base without any effort to even the surface - consequently you get the base of the miniature standing out - destroying the final result.

Anyways side rant aside here is the core German infantry platoon, composed of 33 figures:

In contrast to a British platoon, which historically preferred a fire and movement approach, opting to use the Bren rather than a belt-fed machine gun like the German mg34 and mg42, German platoons  quickly became bogged down in static positions relying on their overwhelming firepower, with riflemen mostly serving a role of ammunition carriers. After having played a couple games it does become apparent that this happens to be the case in Chain of Command too. The German player feels very comfortable sitting back and laying down fire, which makes it quite hard to forget that fire and movement tactics remain king. And, lacking the ability to lay down smoke, unlike the British who have their 2" mortar, trying to move forwards does appear quite daunting initially. Nevertheless, this still probably is due to my sheer inexperience in platoon level tactics, which I hope to improve by playing some more Chain of Command :)

With the German platoon now done and dusted I will be able to field two basic infantry platoons against one another, which remains much more exciting than playing with unpainted miniatures. Now the next step remains starting to ship out the various support options for both platoons.

Achtung – Panzer!

Well progress on the German platoon has bogged down in the last couple days... Whilst it did appear that the final stretch was just in sight, with only a couple figures left to paint and base, a sudden lack of motivation has led me down a more exciting path: support options. Taking a break from painting infantry has been a blessing, and being able to flesh out my support options will allow for more exciting games (the basic 3 German infantry sections vs 3 British infantry sections becomes quite dull after 4-5 games). Moreover, the arrival of German armor will definitely make the British PIAT team finally see some action, previously only having been employed once to fire against a German occupied house.

Painting soft edge camo by hand for the first time was definitely a lot harder than what I initially expected, and even though it has been a great learning experience, I'm not extremely pleased of the final result. I ended up going for some serious drybrushing to make the camo blend a bit more and stand out less. I definitely learnt my lesson that when it comes to camouflage patterns less is more.

Also I'm aware that parts are missing from both Stugs, the mg shield and mg34 that should be present aren't on, and a hatch is missing on one too. So I added some clump folliage to cover the missing bits up and add some extra spice! These happen to be some of my oldest Flames of War models and parts got lost a while ago unfortunately, seeing as these were the first tanks I painted I thought I might as well just use these older faulty models for practice :)

To give the German platoon some further choices I will probably in the near future start working on a fourth infantry section, a forward observer, an extra senior leader, an HMG, a sniper and an infantry gun. All these choices would then allow me great flexibility when fielding the platoon depending on the mission at hand.

However, now that this little side project is out of the way, I'll be jumping straight back to finishing the original German platoon.

15mm Germans

Well seeing as my 15mm German platoon for Chain of Command has been coming along quite nicely, and is nearly all finished, I thought it would be time to make a little post to share the progress.

I've been painting the platoon one section at a time. I realized after painting the British in one large batch that having to go through that process all over again for the German platoon would burn me out quite quickly. Finishing one section at a time, instead of having 30 half painted miniatures laying about, is in my opinion more beneficial as you actually get some fulfillment from finishing part of the project. At times when painting the entire British platoon I felt lost in a swarm of brown uniforms...

In any case here are, basing aside, two finished German sections:

Each section is made up of a 3 man MG34 team, a six man rifle team, and a SMG wielding corporal. Also seeing as each of these sections has a panzerfaust I threw one in each rifle team.

I'm very pleased at how these have turned out, unlike the British who were quite quickly batch painted, I put twice as much time per figure when working on these guys. I do accredit this to my more patient individual section approach, making me want to make sure every miniature was perfect before moving onto the next section.

Finally I also have a half finished section, 4 riflemen are already complete, I'm just missing 2 more riflemen, the LMG team, and the NCO.

Once this section is also done I only have the two man Panzerschreck team and the ‎Oberleutnant left before basing the lot!

A Call to Arms

Getting a nice month break from university has filled me with motivation to finally get around to making my own wargaming blog. After reading online that it's a great way to also stay motivated, as you feel you can document the progress, and share it with others, I decided that along with my new project it would be time to get it started.

Now you may be wondering about this new project... Well seeing as I have a significant 15mm Flames of War miniature collection which is simply gathering dust, I thought it would be time to get around to assembling and painting some of the models. However, not being a fan of Flames of War, especially after glancing at the v4 rules, I looked for a new gamesystem. Which brings us to my project...

Well I found that  Too Fat Lardies have a truly unique and amazing rulebook for WW2 platoon level skirmishes: Chain of Command.

After a couple test battles with my multibased FoW miniatures I decided the game would be more satisfying with individually mounted miniatures. After roughly a week and a half I was able to churn out an entire British platoon, 3 sections (each composed of a 3 man Bren team, six riflemen, and an NCO), a PIAT team, and mortar team. Rounded out with a platoon Sergeant and Lieutenant. 36 soldiers make up this late war British platoon.

Now I move on to the Germans with renewed enthusiasm!