The Germans Are Coming

Got the first few teams done for the German force opposing the Shermans. 15mm are fiddly, of course, but basecoat, wash and highlight generally does the job. I think it's a mistake to get too caught up in fiddling about with them as it's the overall base of figures that is the playing piece and it's the effect of them together that gives the 15mm game its visual appeal.

Which is all by the way of saying these aren't wonderful but they were painted in about an hour which seems like a good return on investment to me.

I have to reiterate that the Plastic Soldier Company figures, although less chunky and a little flatter in detail, are significantly better to work with than the Battlefront ones which were plagued by flash and miscasts.

The rules should,be arriving next week do I'll do a quick review when they do.

Heroes

"To a New Yorker like you, a Hero is some kind of weird sandwich, not some nut who takes on three Tigers."

Seeing Kelly's Heroes when I was a kid led to two things; a lifelong love of Donald Sutherland and an affection for Sherman Tanks. 

So I am pleased to share with you my first painted miniatures for WW2, 2 units of Shermans. 

Here they are just finished and weathered:

And here they are in daylight. 

In terms of markings it's all freehand; records suggest that most tank crews in Normandy removed the front star as it made a great target so some show then being partially obscured and most of then are missing it entirely. 

There is a mix of Battlefront resins and Plastic Soldier Company kits here; the PSC ones are substantially better, if lacking in the heft that resin gives. 

Next, some Wehrmacht infantry. 

€#%*ing goram it all to hell

Sorry for the long silence. A lot of my time has been taken up on recording revision podcasts for my year 11s on a variety of history topics. 

However, it wouldn't be a holiday without a new project on the horizon. In this case, it is also work related. The GCSE History coursework this year includes a question about the different tactics of the two world wars and their impact on casualty figures. Now; trench warfare is a piece of cake to teach. But getting the students to understand the reality of a war of movement like you get in North Africa or Northern France: the role of blitzkrieg and combined arms... That's quite tricky. 

This year I've had some success with using gaming simulations for Waterloo and Trafalgar (if anyone wants the rules I knocked together, give me a shout). So a simple Company level engagement for WW2 seems made to measure. 

So nice dig out some Flames of War stuff and got to work. 

However. 

You might remember I painted some German infantry, a few STuGs and a couple of shermans before. I've lost them. Totally gone. I've looked in the garage, the loft - no sign anywhere. This is a touch frustrating, hence the title of the post. 

Anyhow, onwards and upwards. So here's the start of the new project:

Musings of an (ex) Cigarette Smoking Man

A few fairly random bits to round off the weekend. 

1. In the comments on my Bloodbowl painting post, something was mentioned that got me thinking. The inestimable Roy said I should crack on with the rest of the team while I still had the paints out. 

Confession time: I have one of these 

How many of you fine people have something similar to record colour schemes and recipes for various things?

2. I started to put together some Grenadier Platoons with a mixture of the Flames of War metals and PSC plastic figures.

The PSC are much better, as my test squad shows quite effectively. 

3. I've been tidying up some old

Miniatures with varnish and some new glazes I've formulated since they were painted. 

Here's a teaser:

More later in the week. Assuming I survive the last run towards the two Paper 1s of the GCSE History and Film Studies exams, that is. 

Sabotaged by my own wife...

I'd been doing so well. 

I'd stuck to the Wars of the Roses project. I'd not bought much stuff. I'm ready to start on the Bloodbowl teams. 

I'd been good. 

But today, The Good Lady Er Indoors Mrs West spotted something for sale on one of those local Facebook pages; and I found myself presented with this:

They need rebasing as whoever it was stuck then together in quite a random fashion, but a full late war company for £15 is not to be sniffed at. 

The problem Is, of course, that I now have to build an opposing dice of equal size....

I'd been doing so well. 

Oh and the addition of 96 troopers has shot my pledge all to hell. Or do we count them as bases?