Somewhere else on the Eastern Front

The second game of the FoW foray. This time the Wehrmacht were defending a rail junction.

Once again the T-34s assaulted a position defended by German tanks.

Once more they didn't get far but had some success against some Panzer IVs.

The Soviet artillery, both rocket and guns, had fun messing up the parked German vehicles.

And eventually the tenacity and numbers of the Soviets told and a section of smg infantry took the junction.



 German morale broke and the Soviets were left victorious.

Somewhere on the Eastern Front...

The troops don't get out much (bit like their owner) but this weekend was the first battle in the new garage.

Went for a  Flames of War straightforward battle on a plain. It had to be straightforward as I hadn't actually played the game for four years and then only once (despite the large armies that have been accrued). The opponents were a Russian Tankovy versus a German Panzers force both weighing in at around 1800 points.

The Russians had the initiative and were nominally on the attack. 11 T-34s assaulted a position held by 5 Panthers.

 And the result was well...

Having had a starter of T-34 the Panthers moved on to a main of SU152 and finishing off with some SU 100s before heading for the Soviet artillery park.

The Russians had some success. The 88s were taken out by an accurate rocket bombardment and the 2 supporting Tiger Is didn't last against the SU 100s.

But it was a pretty one sided affair.

 

SU100s

Some more late Soviets to provide fodder for the Tigers and Panthers out there. Mind you these guys do pack a punch themselves.

These are from the Battlefront plastic box set released last year. Painted using my standard method of base colour, black wash, dry brushed and then edged highlights.

The spray paint I used for the base coat failed leaving several of the tanks with a strange, crinkled paint effect. I don't know what caused it, the can was nearly empty and past its best or I hadn't cleaned them up properly.

Guess the Russians won't care once they're on the table. 

US Paratroop Artillery

Little guns that hopefully will pack a punch on the road to Arnhem.

Right, just the infantry to do now for my Market Garden Flames of War force and unfortunately there's 'undreds of the blighters and I only have so much time and patience!

 

US Paratrooper Snipers

Gradually I'm building an Arnhem army for Flames of War games. The XXX Corps tanks are in place, there are a few 82nd kicking about under a bed somewhere and now here are some snipers to help pin back any German counter attack. Next up field artillery.

Tiny Tigers

Ok they're 15mm so not that small but definitely midget like compared with the Warlord one finished a month or so ago. This was another airbrush experiment and as with all of these so far the result was not as intended. The reflective green pigment in particular isn't strong. Still they'll probably look fine enough on a table at a distance.

These are Plastic Soldier Company miniatures. I usually find these a bit smaller than their Battlefront compatriots but unlike the T 34s, STuGS and Shermans I don't have an equivalent Battlefront model to compare these with. So for my home battlefields at least this is the size Tigers are!

WWII German Gallery

I suddenly seem to have a lot of these chaps...

Tanks

 

 

 

 

 

Artillery and support

 

 



 

 

 

Infantry

 

 

 



 

WWII German HMG

Some MG42s to give the Wehrmacht a little extra something when trying to hold back the Soviet war machine.

These guys were base coated with Vallejo Air paints using an air brush and then dry brushed highlights.

 

 

 

 

WWII German Infantry

The last of the Open Fire box set.

 

WWII German Mortars

Just off the brush. Battlefront models.

 

WWII Irish Guards

Got a bit carried away with the Market Garden lists for Flames of War and have ended up with a lot of Shermans.

These are from both the Battlefront Open Fire box and Plastic Soldier Company. Not sure if you could mix them in the same unit but at a distance...

The group includes JOE Vandeleur and the RAF forward command, both Battlefront.

 

 

What I’m Working on Now…

Some Wehrmacht to fight the Russian and gathering British and American hordes.

Models from the Battlefront Open Fire boxed set.

J.O.E. Vandeleur

Every Flames of War army needs a commander and Lt Col Vandeleur has got the job of leading my mixed force of British armour and US paratroopers into the fray.

Simple paint scheme:

•  Russian Uniform
• Black ink wash
• First dry brushed highlight -Russian Uniform
• Second dry brushed highlight 1:3 mix of White and Russian Uniform.

All paint Vallejo the ink was Citadel's Nuln Oil.

Model is Battlefront

T-34s

The last of the Soviet tanks rolls of the production eh... desk. These Plastic Soldier Company models have been sprayed with Battlefront's Soviet Armour paint then given a black ink wash followed by two light drybrushes of Vallejo's Russian Green and Russian Green in 3:1 mix with white. Not my best work by any means but repeatable and quickly onto the war games table to deal with all those Stugs.

Finished Unit - Lockheed P-38 Lightning

This was an impulse purchase (so many are) but I've always loved the look of this aircraft, maybe it's the twin fin novelty. This is the Battlefront model and will fit in with some of the forces in the D-Day books.

Painted in a very similar way to the Sherman tanks:

1. Black undercoat.
2. Russian green (Vallejo) base coat.
3. Nuln oil (GW) ink wash.
4. Russian green highlight. 
5. Russian green/green grey edge highlight.

STUG Comparison – Plastic Soldier Company v Battlefront

So how do 15mm plastic Battlefront, metal Battlefront and Plastic Soldier Company STUGs compare? Do they get on well enough to be in the same unit or even the same army?





In all of the pictures the left hand vehicle is from the Battlefront Open Fire box set. The middle one is Plastic Soldier Company and on the right is a metal/resin Battlefront.

As ever the metal/resin feels much more substantial and looks a bit chunkier but overall I think I like all three. I remember being a bit disappointed when I did a similar comparison with T-34s and the PSC ones were noticeably smaller and a bit less detailed (though much, much cheaper if you’re a gamer and that won out for me). With these I think you could get away even with a mixed unit. Certainly from three feet it’s difficult to tell which is which (though that old garish hand painted job on the metal/resin ones is a dead give away – anybody need a repaint?).

Finished Unit – STUG Assault Guns

These ones are from the Plastic Soldier Company and I’m reasonably pleased how they turned out. As with the previous ones these have been airbrushed middlestone followed by reflective green and chocolate brown. They were then given a black ink wash to try and bring out some definition and then dry brushed highlights. All colours Vallejo this time.



It’ll be interesting to see how these compare with the next batch of German tanks in the garage, these will be completed with Vallejo Model Air colours instead of relying on my ham-fisted, random mixing!

What I’m Working on Now…

Tanks… lots of tanks…

T-34s Plastic Soldier Company.

Shermans from Plastic Soldier Company

A stack of Plastic Soldier Company Stugs

Plastic Soldier Company Tigers and some Battlefront APCs

Bolt Action Tiger with Battlefront APC for scale.

Finished Unit - 88

Battlefront 88 AA guns – let’s see how cool that Russian air support looks now!

Battlefront

Finished Unit – Pak 40

Again from the Open Fire box set. Grey undercoat for these followed by equipment highlight and a black wash. Guns Middlestone undercoat then a  black wash followed by a Middlestone highlight.