The Wehrmacht and Excellent Customer Service

a couple of bits and pieces here. First off, my new WW2 rules arrived from the chaps at Great Escape Games.

Most splendidly, there was a slight problem with the order and I received the wrong set of command tokens. But those wonderful people at GEG sent me the correct ones and let me keep the originals. Fabulous customer service and a guarantee that I'll be shopping with them again. I'll do a full review of the rules after the first game.

Having now got some rules, I now needed to pull my finger out and finish the German force. First up was the armoured support, a couple of STuG by Battlefront I had kicking around. Done in the now infamous dunkelgelb, aka the most hideous colour known to man, I had to do the markings on theses by hand as well.

I also got the last few infantry detachments done, so I now have a 400 point German force for Iron Cross:

I also grabbed a simple little Zveda 1/100 kit for the princely sum of £2.50 to act as an objective. If you see any of these new little kits, by the way, grab them. I think they've set up for some odd little wargame of their own devising but they are fabulously detailed. Here it is under construction:

And the last little thing is more progress in the Memoir 44 campaign. We've now reached Sword Beach and I'm still loosing!

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.

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?