Book review: Chieftains - the documentary novel of a WW3 tank commander

I've returned to one of my past interests, mainly due to the announcement that Battlefront are doing 'Cold War gone hot' and partly due to some very interesting battle reports in various blogs - including some using Battlegroup rules mods. As well as some interesting computer games.

Being slightly bored last night I started checking Kindle for books relating to this topic - having read Red Storm Rising and Team Yankee years ago. A review mentioned Chieftains as being contemporary with Team Yankee but from a British perspective, so I downloaded a sample...

Less than £4 later (and at 3am) I finished the book...

A very interesting read, fast paced and well written. I'd recommend anyone interested in the biggest 'what if' gives it a read if they haven't already. While some of the kit described (such as the U.S. XM1 with a co-ax 25mm Bushmaster cannon) is based on tech that was obviously upcoming (but not yet available), it seems more or less accurate to the early '80's.

The story covers the first three days of the war, although when reading it seems like a lot longer. It is mainly focused on the ground fighting, and specifically one British and to a lesser extent a U.S. Tank crew. 

I really enjoyed this and would recommend it, especially with what may be a resurgence of interest in this period looking likely. 

Plastic Soldier Company WW2 Armour British Spray Review

With most of my fellow 6 Month Mountain Reduction Painting Challenge (6MMRPC) having hit their 6 months point last week and finished the challenge (well done everyone!), I am in my final stretch. I started almost a month later so I am aiming to finish at the end of March.

As part of that final push I've been trying to get a couple of full units that are in progress to the point of at least getting to the 'yellow' stage on my painting chart. Varnishing is still not possible due to the weather here and despite having permission to varnish in the spare room, I've held off because having permission from the better half does not always mean it's a good idea...

Today we had a dry clear day - although the wind was a little gusty. Our back garden is a lot smaller than at the cottage, and a bit more sheltered. I took the chance to try out the PSC British Armour spray I picked up a long time ago.

I've held off using the spray as my other models are painted using Vallejo Model Color 70.924 Russian Uniform as the base green. I knew that using the spray would result in a slightly different tone, but today I decided to give it a shot.

I also discovered a macro setting on one of the camera apps on my phone, so thought I would test that out.

The jeep on the right was hand painted using Vallejo Russian Uniform. The left hand jeep is straight off the spraying board. I'm not sure that the pictures show it, but the PSC spray painted jeep has a slightly deeper tone. Definitely slightly darker that the hand painted one. All in all though I'm quite happy with it.

The tin itself seems to contain a good quantity of spray. It went on easily enough (despite the wind!), although I always struggle to stick to the spray range on the bottle. at 12" it didn't seem like any spray was making it to the models. Again, this could have been the weather.

The other thing to note is that the jeep was sprayed straight on to bare metal and resin. The Loyd carriers I sprayed had been primed black first. The spray is labelled as a primer, so I will go over the non primed models with a quick coat of Russian Uniform, to help the colour match and give a little more protection.

The macro setting on the camera seems to work, but does show off my too thick paint. Getting consistency right is something I still have not managed with the Vallejo paints. When I try to water down I end up with a consistency like that of a wash, but when I don't water it down the finish on the paint isn't as smooth as I would like.

Anyway, the PSC spray is a decent match. I'm happy with it and will use it again.

Nachtjager Digital Content - list of companies

Hi folks,

I'm sure those of you that have picked up the most recent Wargames Illustrated will have seen the article in question, but for those of you who have not, this issue lists the following upcoming Digital army lists (available through FOW digital):

British :-

1.    Parachute Company - 'will be familiar' but with the addition of M22 Locust and Veteran Churchills.
2.    Airlanding Company - 'Will benefit from interesting tank support as well as help from paratroopers of the US 513th PIR'
3.    Airlanding Armoured Recce Squadron - Potentially with M22 Locusts and Cromwells, motorcycle recon, MMG carriers and heavy mortars.
4.    Lorried Rifle - 'Represents all the hard charging troops of 159th Infantry Brigade'. Infantry with Comets - and specific mention of infantry riding Comets.
5.    Motor Company - Integral infantry of 29th Armoured Brigade, mounted in M5 halftracks. Comets, Cromwells and Challengers.
6.    Armoured Car Squadron - Represents the Inns of Court Regiment with SAS backup.
7.    SAS Squadron - Represents 1st and 2nd SAS Regiments. SAS jeeps, armoured cars and tank support.
8.    Tank Squadron - 6th Guards Armoured Brigade, with British and US para riders.
9.    Commando Company - 1st Commando Brigade. Different from other commando lists as not as 'hit and run' and now gain all of the British special rules.

US:-

1.    Parachute Rifle Company - New organisation to include 3 rifle squads with 12 men each, new firepower such as 57mm and 75mm recoilless rifles.
2.    Glider Rifle Platoon -  includes provisional glider pilot units.

The US special rules seem to change to give them 'Thunder from Heaven' which gives them a stormtrooper move. The US lists also seem to have access to Churchills.

German:-

1.    Fallschirmjagerkompanie - 'backed by Heer or SS troops'. May include different quality troops?
2.    SS-Hitlerjugend Ausbildungs Kompanie - 'Generously armed with Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck anti-tank weapons.'
3.    Grenadierkompanie - based on 84. Infanteriedivision. Representative of the Infantry units operating in the area and has access to things like railway AA batteries and some armoured support'.

It also looks like Battlefront are bringing out their own paint range, 'tastefully' in bullet shaped dropper bottles. This ties in with the dropping of the Vallejo references in the Nachtjager book. A book is also coming out this month with painting hints and tips.

Mention also of the new Universal Carriers not being on moulded bases, which is quite a change.This confirms that the UC's in the Nachtjager book are the new models (they are also not on bases).