Recent Painting/Basing

Just some recently finished bits and pieces.

3x Panzer IVs with various gun options.

Plastic, Battlefront Miniatures

Fiat Cr.32 "Chirri" for the Nationalists in Spanish Civil War

1:100 by Minairons

It's a cool piece but a little fiddly to put together.

Goblin Pyros for Pathfinder

Reaper Bones

A bit of AA for FOW

   And today we have some photos of recently finished toy soldiers! These are all Battlefront Miniatures figures, for the Flames of War (v4) game. Of course, they can be used in any 15mm World War 2 game. But that's what they are for.

   Also, I am using my new pop-up photo box for the first time with these pictures. I don't know if it's a LOT better, but I think they are at least improved somewhat. Still just using my iPhone for the camera, since the old Sony died a year or so back.

8th Army 40mm Bofors AA gun scans the skies for the Hun!

The full battery of three guns. A nasty surprise for any lurking Stukas!

The DAK response: SdKfz 10/4: A halftrack mounted 2cm gun.

A platoon of four will help protect all those lovely Panzers

from nasty British Hurricanes.

Plans for 2019

   As we near the end of another year, I think it's a good idea for me to look forward to the year to come. I am hoping that with a plan I will perhaps stay more focused and therefore be more successful in finishing some projects so that I can play the games!

   First is to finish off a project that I thought I already had done. That's the 15mm Spanish Civil War force that I built for Spain in Flames. I am doing the Nationalist Carlists, the requetes. What do I need to do to finish this up? Not too much, really.

• Paint the Fiat Chirri biplane.
• Paint about three platoon command bases for the machineguns, mortars, and AT guns
• Consider a small armoured contingent, of perhaps three to five PzKW Is.
• Get a few Mediterranean terrain pieces. Battlefront's Italian houses will work fine.

   The second project to work on is Frostgrave. I bought a couple of wizards in November of 2017. I just bought a box of the plastic soldiers.

• Paint the wizards and apprentices. (4)
• Assemble and paint the soldiers.(20)
• Obtain and paint objective/treasure markers.
• Obtain terrain. I have a little bit, but more is needed. This is probably the hardest task for this project, though I already have a battlemat from Cigar Box Battle Mats.

   The third new project is a SAGA 2 Viking force. I am going to just do 4 points this year.

• Obtain and paint minis - about 25 
• Obtain terrain. I'm thinking a few 4-Ground Viking buildings will fit the bill well.

   Next, I want to finish off my Soviet Team Yankee forces. It's pretty much all vehicles.

• Finish 4x BDRMs
• Finish BMP-1 OP
• 10x BMP-2s
• 3x DANA SP Guns
• 3x Carnation or Acacias
• 2x Shilka AAA
• 4x SA-13 Gophers

   Then there are the few odds and ends for my Flames of War DAK and 8th Army...

• 4x Light AA half tracks
• 4x BOFORs 40mm
• Some sort of extra tanks for the Brits. Crusaders, maybe.

   Finally, I want to get my VBCW forces into a game!

• Terrain. Primary need for this to happen.

   Well, that's all. I think that's a pretty ambitious list for me, actually. I'm hoping to do the terrain as table ready as I can get it.

Skipping MillenniumCon This Year

   I won't be there this weekend in Round Rock. Life gets in the way sometimes, and I have a ton of research papers to finish grading. But it was a good convention last year and I think worth the time for folks to attend.

   I have been getting a few things finished up. The biggest deal is that I finished up enough Afrika Korps infantry to field a full Africa Rifle Company for Flames of War v4. That's a Company HQ consisting of two HQ stands; two platoons of four infantry stands, a 2.8cm AT gun stand, an sMG42 stand, and 8cm mortar stand; and a 5cm Tank Hunter Platoon of three PaK38 stands.  And that means I can field both sides!

The full company required to make a formation in FOW v4

Some Recent Painting

   Just a few quick snaps to show some of what I have been working on these last few weeks. I am almost "done" with my Flames of War Afrika Korps forces for v4. I just want to finish a trio of Panzer IVs, five stands of infantry and support weapons, and get some AA trucks (Sdkfz 250/4, I think...).

A Great Pillar to Great Cthulhu

For Frostgrave or just for fun...

3 PaK-38 5cm AT Guns for Afrika Korps in Flames of War

Afrika Korps infantry and support weapons

Better shot of the 2.8cm AT gun

DAK 8cm mortar

Closeup of the Phone Box for VBCW (28mm)

Police Box, Phone Box, and Post Box, all 28mm for VBCW

Pair of JU-87 Stukas for FOW v4 in Africa

Stuff on the Table

   I have prepped a bunch of stuff for the table, if you follow that listing on here. Much of it is 15mm Deutsches Afrika Korp (DAK) for Flames of War v. 4. Of course, the same minis can be used for earlier versions as well, though possibly in different numbers per unit.

   I will soon have a decent DAK selection for North African warfare. That would include a small infantry company, two platoons of Panzer IIIs, a platoon of Panzer IVs, a battery of Lorraine Schlepper 15cm guns, a Panzer II OP, and a pair of the dreaded Flak 36 8.8cm guns. I want to add a pair of Stukas, enlarge my infantry sections, and build a second pair of Flak 36s. I may go ahead and get a pair of Tiger IEs from Schwere Panzerabteilung 501, too, but I am wavering on that. There were only like a dozen in all of Africa, after all. I own a fair number of unpainted halftrack transports, and a Kradschutzen motorcycle platoon for version 3.0, but I don't think they have rules for them in version 4. Maybe upgrade cards?

   I also took a look at what I already have for my British 8th Army forces to oppose the Huns. My infantry is solid - I have Indian troops. I have a section of India Pattern recon vehicles, too. For heavy stuff, there is a battery of 4x 25-pounders, a Honey OP tank, some Grants, some Crusaders, and a pair of Hurricanes. I have some 2-pdr and 6-pdr portees, but I have to look at how the game treats those in 4th Edition. I think there is an upgrade card for it, just like there is one for Indian infantry.

   Other than Flames of War stuff, I have a variety pack of 28mm stuff. That's basically stuff that has been sitting about, and I can use them as relaxation from the eyestrain of painting 15mm. That's getting harder these days.

More Freshly Painted Hotness

   Well, I just clear-coated a new bunch of freshly finished minis. As is becoming my habit. I took pictures while they are drying.

Overall shot. Lots of fresh goodies!

2x 15mm "long corridor" pieces from Ion Age

Also, some of the many air conditioner units for Team Yankee

A Reaper Saproling Warrior - bound for Dr. Vardu on Venus (VSF!)

And a Reaper Blacksmith. Because I want some fantasy villager NPCs, dagnabbit!

Lorraine Schleppers for Flames of War, a 15mm WW2 wargame

Closer view of the Lorraine Schlepper. I like the guy covering his ears.

The Lorraine Schlepper was a stopgap measure for the Wehrmacht. They took captured French Lorraine Schlepper tractors and added a WWI-era 15cm sFH 18 cannon to it in an armoured superstructure. It was slow and lacked an effective traverse system - you had to move the vehicle to aim the gun, basically. The extending stabilising spade is a cool touch though.

Clear Coat still drying on these

But I thought I would share anyway. Please forgive the hasty and not too-well lit photos. I'm excited that I have been making progress on some projects.

A Paneuropean "Huscarl" (Mk. V) OGRE

(Steve Jackson Games, Plastic)

German, it calls itself "Das Schwarzeritter" - The Black Knight

Why? Because it's a massive unstoppable engine of war. It can call itself whatever it wants.

Another Paneuropean "Legionnaire", this one Neo-Soviet.

KMSR-1917, aka "Kommisar"

(Steve Jackson Games, Metal)

Turrets and hulls of some DAK PzKW III and IV

15mm Battlefront

Platoon Commander for Panzer IVs (with short 7.5cm gun)