Finished (?): 15mm British Infantry Platoon, Medics and Engineers

Hi Folks,

Tonight I had the aim of finishing off these bits and bobs that have been on my desk for this last week or so. Unfortunately, I discovered that due to a 'logistical' issue, I hadn't ordered any new Mininatur tufts and my old ones are more or less done. So I've had to put the platoon and the engineers back on the shelf till these arrive.

So first up, the (almost) complete platoon of 7th Bat. Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. This should, technically, be the first platoon of my 2nd Company. But given that I have stripped the paint off one of my older painted platoon... I think I have taken one step forward and one back!

The models are Battlefront (with the exception of the PIAT gunner, I'm not too sure where he is from), but from the older range of Battlefront models. I love these models, and they are pretty easy to paint.

I went with 4 men per base to cut down on the number of figures I need to do for the whole planned expansion. But also because I think it more closely represents the actual strength of the platoons available for Totalise. I have, for example, read accounts of C company being temporarily disbanded in order to provide enough men to bring the other 3 companies up to a strength of 7 men per squad.

I also attempted with these figures to give them a dark blue patch on their arms to show these chaps are 'Highway Decorators' (Highland Division) troops.

I also revisited some of the casualties and medics I had painted previously but had never based. These are Peter Pig and Skytrex models.

And while I was sorting these out, I also updated and based a wire laying team, single medic base and some bailed out tank crewmen.

Lastly, I have four bases of Engineers. These are for no particular FoW unit, as the options to take Engineer platoons seems to have been dropped from the overlord book (it is in the Scots Division PDF). I figures they would be great for a scenario game, and just like the models.

These chaps would be from one of the Field Coys, RE that supported the 51st HD. Probably 274 Coy.

These are a mix of the Battlefront Italian Engineers and some of the older Pioneer models. Enough to put a minesweeper on each base.

So once the new tufts arrive, I'll get these all properly finished off. I also need to do the unit identifying markings on the back of the bases.

I've another infantry platoon and some Pioneers/Engineers in the queue, and finished off cleaning up some of the stuff I had in Dettol (it cleaned up really easily, just took a while to scrub!). Currently there are some Confederate dismounted cavalry on my desk, which I am hoping to get finished before Friday.

WiP - 15mm British Infantry, Engineers and Medics

Hi folks,

A bit of a gap since my last update, but not for any reason other than not having anything really finished to show.

Since I finished my Rebel 10mm Cavalry I've been working on updating and adding to my available 15mm British infantry. The Battle for Noyers games showed me that I needed to have more infantry platoons available for games of that size. I've been slowly building up a stash of infantry figs over the last year or so, so the plan is to start adding a platoon here and there.

The plan had also been to take one of my original infantry platoons (which were some of the first FoW models I bought and painted) and update them with a highlight and new basing.

This part of the project came a bit undone. I decided to remove them from the bases, then that I would go for 4 men on a base rather than 5, then was unhappy because at some point after basing I had varnished them and static grass was stuck all over them.... The long and the short of all that is that the entire platoon went into the paint stripper last week and I will be painting them from scratch! They were some of the first 15mm models I had painted and I just would not have been happy with an update to them. The static grass issue was just a killer!

So as far as painted infantry platoons goes, I'm almost 1 up and 1 down score wise!

Here are the current batch - just one infantry team and the HQ to finish before the platoon is all done. 6 x 4 man teams (3 of the teams with Brens), 1 x 2 man PIAT and 1 x 2 man 2" Mortar, 1 x 3 man command team.

There is a poorly converted wire laying team included, for Battlegroup/scenario games. I've tried to put the Highland Division patch on the chaps arms as well, but no other markings. The sculpts are a mix of newer and older models.

Then I have 4 squads of engineers - I wanted some more mine clearing assets, again for larger scenario games. these will be a small detachment or Royal Engineers:

Another mix of older and newer models. Each strip will be one base worth. Forgot I would need an HQ for these!

And lastly, I have some medics, wounder and stretcher bearers I am updating - along with a couple of  bailed out tankers:

These are for Battlegroup/scenario FoW games as well. These guys just need the final details and varnishing.

So all of this lot should be based up shortly, and I'm going to move on to repainting the original guys. Hopefully this won't take long!

Finished! Churchill Fascine, Churchill SBG, Austin K2/Y Ambulance

Hi folks,

A tiny little bit still to do on these - mainly crew to add to the tanks and the steel paper to put on the underside of the bases. But other than that, I'm calling these three done!

I've a couple of blog posts to do specifically showing off the parts to each kit, but initially these are all 15mm models:

Churchill conversion kits from S&S Models and Churchill models from PSC
Austin K2/Y Ambulance from QRF

I've used mainly Vallejo paints on these, with a couple of different varnishes and my own 'magic wash'.

SBG Churchill

The SBG Churchill is magnetised in order to make both the bridge and the base removable. This allows the bridge to be deployed and the tank to be moved to a smaller size base.

This tank has been decalled up as a vehicle of 80th Assault Squadron, 5th Assault Regiment,  1st Assault Brigade Royal Engineers, 79th Armoured Division.

I also used a new basing technique on these following some feedback via Facebook. I applied two tracks of darker shorter static grass to the base and then applied the usual shade all over as normal. This (hopefully) makes it look like the grass has been crushed by a weight passing over it.

Really nice model and I'm really chuffed with it.

Churchill AVRE

This tank was built with a magnetised Fascine bundle, allowing it to be removed or to be carried on the tank. The front section used to hold the fascine is not removable, so the turret traverse is limited - but I think that this may be historically accurate anyway.

This tank has also been decalled up as a vehicle of 80th Assault Squadron, 5th Assault Regiment,  1st Assault Brigade Royal Engineers, 79th Armoured Division. 

Another lovely model - something different, that's for sure!

Austin K2/Y 'Katy' Ambulance

This heavy duty ambulance was used is various theatres but is most commonly known for the role it played in the film 'Ice Cold in Alex'.

My version is painted up for service in NWE. It's decalled up as an ambulance of 176 Field Ambulance, 51st Highland Division (assigned to support 154 Brigade). These are the same markings as my Ambulance Halftrack and Ambulance Jeep. Somewhere down the line is a first aid station...

The weathering powder, on the ambulance especially, looks far brighter than it does on the model. Must be the way it picks up the light, or something my Camera is doing?

So, that is most of my Novelty November Challenge complete, other than my Radio Truck. It is painted, just the basing still to do. I've been held up by a cunning plan to mount some figures on the base with it and make a little diorama. Still in the process of painting the figures, but should have them done in the next day or so.

Thanks for reading - and remember you can get regular updates on what I'm working on via my Facebook page.

Sherman progress and some games

Hi folks,

This week has been spent doing a couple of things. First up, I set up a Facebook account for my blog. You can click the link on the right in order to follow me there, where I am trying to give a few more regular updates, etc.

I also continued to work on my 144 RAC Sherman I's and some of my Polish Sherman V's.

I mixed some 'Magic Wash' up. Seems to be working ok, but needs to be mixed with ink before adding to the mini's as I've not got the shade right yet.

And lastly, I played 2 games! One was even Flames of War! The other was a 6mm battle between York and Lancaster (?) during some English civil war or other. This game was the first at a club being set up by Yorkie, over and 'Little Legions' in a village hall about 45 mins from me. It was the inaugural meeting tonight and we managed to get 6 of us there for a multi player game. Some lovely mini's, good banter and a pretty quick playing game. Here's some pics:

All set up, we were on the left - no idea which army we were! Each player had two 'battles'. The hill to our North split our forces a little.

The enemy line! Some great looking units.

Our battle line - the hill that split our forces can be seen in the distance.

Some progress in the first few turns, with my battle heading forwards and getting some lucky shots in, causing one enemy unit to fall back. on the other flank the close combat had already started! A wood meant that only one part of that battle could engage at first. Thankfully they held their own!

Aftermath of the battle in the north - one enemy and one friendly unit lost, with another enemy unit shaken. My own force carefully deployed just out of initiative charge range...

Getting ready for the big clash!

Exchanging arrow fire - Thankfully Yorkie's dice were poor and he was just out of charge range.

The results of my own charge. By this point my allies had almost cleared the board, with only one other enemy unit still active. The two to my front were charged, with one combat resulting in a draw and the other resulting in a smashes enemy unit after a turn or so.

The rest our forces preparing to tackle the single remaining enemy unit (thats being pointed at). Bottom right my chaps smashed the shattered and disordered enemy unit, swept round the hill and took out the guns and lined up to charge the other enemy unit (locked in combat with my unit) in the rear. Thankfully a very close tie resulted in morale checks for both our engaged units - I passed, he did not and his unit routed. Victory!

On Wednesday I was invited round to Yorkies house for a quick game of Flames of War. I picked two 1000pt infantry lists and we used my figures (although his own are stunning). I only took one picture of the game, but it resulted in a Highland victory.

Magic Wash wise, the concotion looks like this:

But I feel it needs to be even darker. It's not so dark as it looks when poured out to be painted on. Some drops of Army Painter Strong Tone wash in the mix sorted it out ready to go onto my bunkers and Shermans:

German MG bunkers, resins casts. I've since put the static grass on them so they should be finished this weekend.

This was them after a wash of the Magic Wash mixture and a drybrush of Russian Uniform. More highlighting still required!

On top of all this, last weekend I got all my Polish Shermans primed using the Team Yankee Soviet Armour spray. The Sherman I's were hand primed and painted. I have to say this spray was (or seems) very close to Vallejo Russian Uniform, although I did quickly hand paint a coat of Russian Uniform onto them as well. One full tin and a bit of another used to cover all the Polish Shermans:

(less the 4 on the painting table)

So yeah, constructive week, I seem to be making good progress and the club should hopefully be running every two weeks. It is a 45 min drive but that's not too bad - may be quicker once the roadworks are gone! Fingers crossed this leads to some more gaming.