Soviet expansion.

Well, the eBay purchase of 15 T34's duly arrived and I wasted no time in unpacking them and giving them the once over. I did not pay a lot for them, £50.00 for the lot, so I was not expecting too much. They are the older resin/metal kits which I rather like, and all had been given the base green coat with track work painted in bright silver! A couple were broken on the resin sides so I discarded them and ended up with 8 x T34/76's 4 T34/85's and a command T34/76 with draped soviet flag over the turret, a nice little touch. It did not occur to me straight away that the turrets had cupolas added on the commanders side, infact it was not until after I had spent a couple of hours working on them with ink washes, weathering and highlighting that it struck me that they were the latter 'Vietnam' version as sold by Battlefront. A bit of research told me that (luckily) the addition of the commanders cupola was the only real difference so I duly removed them with pliers, and again it was a bit of luck that they all came off quite easily with no further damage. I have started to replace these with simple closed hatches from green stuff and will repaint them today.

This pile of metal tank rider sets came with the T34's, should add a nice touch to the tanks one painted.

Shiny Soviets!

You can see the cupolas in this pic.

A quick paint job, than had to remove all of the cupolas ....blast!

Cupolas prized off with pliers!

Bit more work on the tracks and hatches should see them ready for basing.

 I have also ordered a pack of 5 more T34's from the 'Plastic Soldier Company' to round things off and give me 4 platoons plus 2 command tanks, fingers crossed they will match well for scale, they certainly look to be fine little models. Also from PSC I have on order a couple of decal sets to detail them with. All will be based to match the Forged in Battle models and the excellent Tony Barr of East Riding Miniatures has once again cut me several custom sized tablet packs. Once all is gathered together I should have around 60 tank models across the three armies, US, German & Soviet.

Not done much on the Bolt Action front this week, just finished off the Soviet anti tank team and put together a multipart plastic figure to add a soviet flag bearer to add a touch of colour to the otherwise rather dull hordes. Having watched an enjoyable video of a Bolt Action game that featured a mounted charge by cossacks against a German infantry squad, the opportunity of painting up a unit of cavalry for my own Ruskies is tempting. As Warlord don't make them I have been pointed in the direction of Copplestone Castings who produce some wonderful castings under the 'Back of Beyond' range. Lists allow a unit of up to 12 cavalry, and in typical Bolt Action style they are pretty powerful, more so than they should be I'm sure, but great fun. In the report I watched they were held back in reserve and came in on a flank on turn 4, destroying the infantry squad they charged! Just another option within the army. I also have another Airfix model to build and paint, an Ilyushin Sturmovik 'airstrike' marker for the Sooviets, I really enjoy doing these kits.

Pics show the T34's as they arrived and after 'improving' them with a wash and paint job. Cupolas removed and ready for replacing. Soon as I'm ready I'll play a FoW game to refresh my memory, but I still retain much of the armour based rules at least in the old brainbox!

Flames of War Tanks .... and lot's of them!

I now have the US and early German ready painted tanks, with the Soviets due any day now. I'm well pleased with everything so far. The fifteen T34's will face off against the Panzer Mk IV's and a platoon of up gunned Pz IVJ's, while the US tanks will face off against a late war German force. I'm intending - at this stage - to stick to fighting armour based games alone. All are resin/metal models by Battlefront and Forged in Battle, the latter being new to me but the models are really nice, so nice in fact that I could not resist ordering more! The FiB models are sold in platoon packs, resin hulls with metal parts, and are cast on resin bases which I rather like. They are reasonably priced, cheaper than Battlefront plastic kits and feature lots of fine detail.They match for scale perfectly. Of course I gave in to my well known love of Tigers and my order includes a three model box of Tiger I's. With little to do in the way of construction things should come together very quickly.

The US eBay purchase actually contained more than I had bargained for, I had not even noticed that included was a platoon of 3 self propelled artillery and 9 lovely little jeeps, I was only expecting 5 Shermans, 4 M10 tank destroyers and 5 Stuart light tanks. OK, so I have no idea how I'll use 9 jeeps, but they are rather smart. Thanks to James, (Mad Tin Hatter blog), I also have an additional 4 Shermans to come, very kindly gifted and gratefully accepted, cheers James. I was going to use them as lend lease Soviet tanks, the Shermans look good painted up with Russian markings, but as I already have (or will have) fifteen T34's it makes more sense to add them to my US armour force I think. I'm excited at the prospect of fighting 15mm armour battles again, and my plan is to play infantry platoon level games with Bolt Action, having slimmed down the 28mm armour, retaining just a couple of armour choices per force, so for example my BA US force retains 1 Sherman and 1 M10 with the rest going on eBay.

I sold a few of the tanks this week to a local wargamer John, who is the Chairman of Maidstone Wargames Club. It was nice to meet him and we had a good chat about the club and the games they play. We live just a few miles apart! I'm tempted to join, although not a naturally 'clubby' sort of person the convenience of meeting on a Saturday morning a couple of times a month sounds just what I need and it's only a 45 minute drive or so. John took a Tiger, StuG, pak40, and two M4 Shermans off my hands and assures me they will be well used so I'm happy, with funds being invested back in more 15mm tanks.

Some pictures of what's arrived so far. Should anybody require a couple of 15mm recce jeeps for their US army I'm happy to share them as I have far more than I need, drop me a line and I'll drop them in the post, no charge.

All models will be based to match the FiB models. Tracks need attention on the American tanks but no big deal. A few MG's feel of in transit, again not a problem sticking them back on again.

Stuart light tank platoon (front).

M10 tank destroyers in front, Sherman platoon behind.

So many jeeps!

Forged in battle on left, Battlefront on right.

 

Forged in Battle Pz IV's.

And a quick glimpse of the first AB figures painted, but not finished. I timed myself at just under an hour to paint these 8 figures, they will now get the final touch/detailing before basing.

Barbarossa beckons!

Flames of War.
With the imminent arrival of the Panzer IV platoons I have been giving some thought to how to use them in their historical role, because clearly by the time of Normandy invasion they were pretty much obsolete. The models are very well painted in the earlier dark grey and they are far more suited to the Russian front than late war. So when I spotted fifteen T34's (76/85 turrets), all assembled and base coated ready to finish I grabbed them! They are all Battlefront resin/metal models and will make the perfect opponents for the Panzers. I can see this developing nicely as a side project now.

Bolt Action.
Of course I will keep my 28mm Bolt Action infantry based armies, I have about a thousand points each of Russians, Germans and US troops. Rounding things off now, each force will retain a couple of tank choices with the rest being sold off to recover my costs of the FoW tanks. I wanted to add some flak to my German force to counter the Allied airstrikes, and  the Opel Blitz truck (great name), with it's 20mm flak gun and ammunition trailer proved irresistible. Might tone down the woodwork a bit more, but I'm pleased with how it all turned out. I also decided to remove the artillery pieces from their bases in order to allow for casualty removal. I have been doing a lot of reading up on BA games and am convinced that the use of indirect fire HE can do a lot of damage so the light howitzers are back in my lists, along with the medium mortars. I have added another half track to tow the gun onto the field to gain the best advantage point. The German force ' reinforced infantry platoon' now feels well balanced with it's 4 squads of Panzer Grenadiers - two of which can attack in half tracks- MG42 teams, mortar and sniper team, and with a choice of the Stug in classic infantry assault role or the Tiger, along with the howitzer and flak gun should prove a force to be reckoned with. The pak40 anti tank gun remains on the subs bench now, as I feel the howitzer is a more useful choice in a standard BA game.

AB figures.
Amazingly after reading on the Fighting 15 website that orders can take up to 8 weeks to fill where items are out of stock my order arrived in 24 hours, fully completed. This is the first time I have seen these figures up close and they really are beautiful castings, so evocative of the Peninsular War. I have enough figures and guns to cover most of the Commands & Colors scenarios replacing each blog with a single figure. Much as the temptation is to paint up full units I know that's not a realistic proposal for me as I'm committed to WW2 mostly right now. Still, I will enjoy the project and will add the Portuguese etc in due course. I'm looking at magnetizing the individual bases using washers and magnetic sheet this time.

A few pics of the new BA bits including the Opel Blitz and the howitzer removed from it's former large base which makes it easier to hide!

More Warlord lovelyness! Resin and metal kit, metal figures.

The light howitzer with 4 crew plus spotter.

The two nearest half tracks are infantry transports, the rear is a tow for the gun.

Partizan squad finished, just need to edge the bases.

Coming up next, Soviet spotters and anti tank dog team! I'm also adding a flamethrower team to my German's, not keen on them but useful for getting troops out of buildings and bunkers.

Firefly with distinctive barrel marking, resin and metal kit, on the 'for sale' list'.

Gibby trying to sit on them!

Finally, the completed US force, forget to put the M10 in the pic as a tank choice in my list.

The chosen one! Plastic M4 Sherman with added stowage, netting etc. The half track is my tow for the light howitzer. The jeep is the recce vehicle, can zip about and has a 30cal MMG for protection.

Looking back, and looking ahead!

I managed to dig up a few shots of the old 'Essex Miniatures' project using 15mm figures to replace the wooden blocks in the C&C Napoleonics series. Back then (2013) I started with Russians v French and looking back it produced a rather pleasing game when played on the C&C board. This time I'm starting with the base game which focused on the Peninsular War primarily, and has endless scenarios based on real battles that can be set up in a small space and played in under a couple of hours to a conclusion. As it's card driven and the command hand is constantly changing it works well for solo play too. I have the full set of expansions - Spanish, Russian, Austrian and Prussian - there is loads of mileage in this project. I don't yet have the final expansion.

Looking back for inspiration - 15mm Essex miniatures on the C&C board - 2013.

Looking ahead.
Well, I have also made another decision. The 'Tank War' project has been something of a let down as a means of playing tank on tank combat games so I have decided to trim down the 1/56th scale (28mm) tank collection and retain just the base game forces for Bolt Action. For some time recently I have yearned for the old 'Flames of War' armour rules with it's bogging checks, bail outs, remounts and firepower rolls. I feel that it models tank based warfare far better than TW. To this end I have invested in two ready painted 15mm FoW armoured forces of 12 to 14 tanks and vehicles per side to get me back into it. Both should be here later this week. The US force is based a platoon of 5 Shermans, a platoon of 5 Stuart light tanks, a platoon of 4 M10 tank destroyers plus numerous jeeps etc. The Germans are based around 2 platoons each of 4 Panzer IV's plus command vehicles and a recce etc, All are very well painted and I will thoroughly enjoy myself with them I'm sure. I hope to recover this initial cost of £250.00 by back selling a dozen or so of the 28mm painted tanks and vehicles, and I'm perfectly happy with this decision.

If anyone is looking to buy a ready painted Sherman M4 to compliment BA infantry force I have six going including a resin and metal Firefly as well as an M10 tank destroyer, Stuart light tank and numerous Panzers including a StuG, Tiger I, Hetzer and Marder, now all surplus to requirement or duplicates. I'm looking for around £20.00 per model plus postage UK only please. Happy to send individual pics of each model to choose from and combine postage. lgramson@yahoo.com for details please.

The  Panzers are on their way, paint job is slightly earlier but so good I'll use them as they are!

The US tank platoons.

A return to C&C Napoleonics!

With my Bolt Action collection just about done I have been thinking about what to follow it with for some time now. I just can't get the enthusiasm for Hail Caesar at the moment and my mind has increasingly turned back towards Commands & Colors Napoleonics, the board game. Having been playing this fine game for several years now using both blocks and figures I feel it's time to do a bit of Napoleonic painting again, and this time I will stick to the four figures/blocks rather than building full units. I have no intention of doing anything other than replace each block with a model soldier, but this time I'm going with the superb 18mm AB figures rather than the old Essex figures as before. Games will be played on the board with no additional terrain etc, just the terrain hexes supplied.

What I like is it will give me the option to play downstairs in comfort rather than spending too much time upstairs, where the table remains set up for Bolt Action. I will begin by doing the Peninsular War from the base game set and go from there. I'm excited about the prospect of painting some Napoleonics again and have placed a hefty order with Fighting 15's that should cover both French and British armies to start with.

Some here may recall that I did this before with Essex figures, but it bogged down on the Austrain and Prussian front as I did not feel the figures ranges were that good to be honest, but the AB range changes all that! No regrets selling them all off, this time the figures will be much better.

Can't find any pics of the old Essex figures on the C&C board, but was the AWI version I did back in 2013.

On the Bolt Action front I should finish the German flak truck this weekend and have a Russian Ba6 armoured car, spotter and anti tank mine team to keep me busy while waiting for the AB's to arrive.

French Resistance squad.

With the tanks now packed away I have been enjoying myself painting some Warlord French Resistance fighters and as usual they come with some fine character faces. This will be a 12 man/woman squad when complete and I'm sure I'll find a way to use them in a scenario. They carry a good mix of weapons including a captured MG42 and an assault rifle, they are 'inexperienced' but could still put down a fair bit of firepower.

I'm really now at the stage where I can paint what I feel like painting for BA, adding in those extra characters and terrain bits etc. To follow the Frenchies I have a German Opel Blitz truck with flak gun and ammo trailer, this will provide the Germans with some mobile Anti Aircraft fire when the Allied Air Strike comes in, adds another factor into the game.

To finish of my Russians I have an armoured car, observers and dog anti tank mine team on the way this week. I'll also add an Airfix Sturmovik to round things off.

Thanks to 'Norm' for his input and suggestions re tank combat, the idea of only allowing 'Superficial damage' when a Sherman hits a Tiger (or any heavy tank) frontally feels just about right to me. This means even when a lucky 6 is rolled the best that the Sherman can do is to disable it and pin it frontally, there are modifiers for side and rear shots that will just about allow for a kill shot if lucky.

French Resistance for BA plus two civilians for my Granddaughters budding collection!

Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once!

Cafe owner and Butcher (for my Granddaughters collection).

20mm Flak mounted on a truck