Still have all the items for sale/trade listed three posts down. May add to the list soon.
In the meantime, I'm expecting probably by the end of the week or possibly next week to have a small addition to my Roco forces, namely a platoon of 5 Panthers and a single Sdkfz 7 half-track. This will be my first actual German half-track, where right now all my half-tracks are diecast US ones from various toy companies. Hot Wheels, mostly, with a smattering of Zee Toys and Johnny Lightning.
With the arrival of the Rocos, I shall have all the vehicles necessary to recreate the first battle in Operation Warboard. This has been an objective that's been in my mind for a few weeks now, to assemble troops and vehicles and try out the battle as an IABSM scenario. I may use British troops instead of American as I already have some Brits being based up. I'm also debating whether to use the number of platoons listed in OW, or go with squads, as the platoons in Operation Warboard have roughly a squad worth of figures in them, so going with squads would be closer to the actual figure count involved. Plus, the scenario calls for 3 trucks, each carrying a "platoon", and I'm thinking the carrying capacity for a truck is probably about one squad in IABSM.
Showing posts with label ww2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ww2. Show all posts
Monday, January 19, 2009
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Items for sale or trade
Books
-------------
Osprey Men-At-Arms 64 Napoleon's Cuirassiers and Carabiniers
Osprey Men-At-Arms 55 Napoleon's Dragoons and Lancers
25-30mm Old Glory
--------------------
SYWA-13 Austrian Hussar Command - complete (1 standard top broken off but present)
SYWA-08 Austrian Hungarian Grenadier Command - complete
SYWA-03 Austrian German Grenadier Command - 1 officer w/spontoon, 1 drummer, 1 standard bearer
SYWA-04 Austrian German Grenadier - 1 wounded marching hatless, 12 marching grenadier variants
?? unidentified 18th century - 2 officer marching with spontoon over shoulder, 2 officer standing with sword upright
AWI-21 British Grenadier March Attack - 1 officer, 1 standard, 1 fifer (I think), 1 drummer, 11 marching
25mm Barry Minot plastics
------------------------
2 Highlander
3 AWI light infantry advancing
2 AWI musketeer in tricorn advancing
16 AWI grenadier in bearskin advancing
30mm Spencer Smith plastics
-------------------------
2 drummers (1 painted and based)
25mm Sash & Saber
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1 Prussian Grenadier Advancing Shoulder Arms (Prussian Cuffs)
1/72 Plastic Napoleonics - Boxed
------------------------------------
Manufacturer Code # Name Number of Boxes Number of Figures
Italeri 6058 British and Scots Infantry 1 50
Zvezda 8021 French Infantry 1 50
1/72 Plastic Napoleonics - Loose
--------------------------------------
Manufacturer Code # Name Number of Figures
Esci 227 French Line Infantry 75
Esci 215 Napoleonic British Infantry 127
Airfix 01744 Waterloo French Infantry 141
Esci 214 French Imperial Guard 127
Airfix 01749 Waterloo French Imperial Guard 50
Airfix 01736 Waterloo French Cavalry 24
1/72 Plastic Samurai
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Caesar 003 Japan Samurai with Ninja - 1 box (with box, but off sprue, unpainted)
1/87 Vehicles
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Roco Marder I (missing targeting asembly on left of turret)
Roco fuel tractor/trailer (Z168 maybe, with scoop-entry on tractor?)(painted)
EKO WW2 dump truck
Roco water tank truck (Looks like the #148, only it has the scoop-entry rather than doors on the tractor)
1/72 Plastic WW2
---------------------
Airfix 01748 USAF Personnel (loose figures, but should all be present)
Airfix 01747 RAF Personnel (loose figures, but should all be present)
-------------
Osprey Men-At-Arms 64 Napoleon's Cuirassiers and Carabiniers
Osprey Men-At-Arms 55 Napoleon's Dragoons and Lancers
25-30mm Old Glory
--------------------
SYWA-13 Austrian Hussar Command - complete (1 standard top broken off but present)
SYWA-08 Austrian Hungarian Grenadier Command - complete
SYWA-03 Austrian German Grenadier Command - 1 officer w/spontoon, 1 drummer, 1 standard bearer
SYWA-04 Austrian German Grenadier - 1 wounded marching hatless, 12 marching grenadier variants
?? unidentified 18th century - 2 officer marching with spontoon over shoulder, 2 officer standing with sword upright
AWI-21 British Grenadier March Attack - 1 officer, 1 standard, 1 fifer (I think), 1 drummer, 11 marching
25mm Barry Minot plastics
------------------------
2 Highlander
3 AWI light infantry advancing
2 AWI musketeer in tricorn advancing
16 AWI grenadier in bearskin advancing
30mm Spencer Smith plastics
-------------------------
2 drummers (1 painted and based)
25mm Sash & Saber
---------------
1 Prussian Grenadier Advancing Shoulder Arms (Prussian Cuffs)
1/72 Plastic Napoleonics - Boxed
------------------------------------
Manufacturer Code # Name Number of Boxes Number of Figures
Italeri 6058 British and Scots Infantry 1 50
Zvezda 8021 French Infantry 1 50
1/72 Plastic Napoleonics - Loose
--------------------------------------
Manufacturer Code # Name Number of Figures
Esci 227 French Line Infantry 75
Esci 215 Napoleonic British Infantry 127
Airfix 01744 Waterloo French Infantry 141
Esci 214 French Imperial Guard 127
Airfix 01749 Waterloo French Imperial Guard 50
Airfix 01736 Waterloo French Cavalry 24
1/72 Plastic Samurai
---------------
Caesar 003 Japan Samurai with Ninja - 1 box (with box, but off sprue, unpainted)
1/87 Vehicles
---------------
Roco Marder I (missing targeting asembly on left of turret)
Roco fuel tractor/trailer (Z168 maybe, with scoop-entry on tractor?)(painted)
EKO WW2 dump truck
Roco water tank truck (Looks like the #148, only it has the scoop-entry rather than doors on the tractor)
1/72 Plastic WW2
---------------------
Airfix 01748 USAF Personnel (loose figures, but should all be present)
Airfix 01747 RAF Personnel (loose figures, but should all be present)
Sunday, October 12, 2008
WW2 Vehicle Park
Following in the footsteps of some others on the 1/87 Military Models Yahoo group, I decided to line up all my WW2 vehicles for a group photo. On the left side, you can see various artillery pieces, a couple of Paul Heiser models that are still in progress (the white items), a stray Roco Marder I, a Tiger II and Panther from a Roco knockoff company that need new track units, and some odds and ends of spare parts. More comments after the photo. Click on the photo for a larger view.
As you can see (and has been mentioned on this blog), my vehicles are a mixture of true 1/87 vehicles from Roco, Boley, Eko, and others, plus a mix of die-cast and plastic vehicles that happen to be in generally the right size. The topmost trucks are all modern M998 trucks from Maisto, but I use them quite happily in my WW2 forces of all sides. If I eventually get enough Roco trucks of the correct nationality and era, I may phase them out, but for now they suit me fine. Similary, the third row down shows a mixed bag of diecast US half-tracks from at least three manufacturers, most of them the sort with AA guns. These are also happily used as troop transports of all sides as needed, until such time as proper replacements can arrive. Given that the Roco/Heiser halftracks tend to sell from $12-30 each, this will be a while.
I still don't know who makes the undersized cheap plastic panzers near the front. These too may eventually be replaced when I can afford the proper 1/87 vehicles. The very front row has several jeeps, a number of which are missing parts (which is their state when I bought them). It also has the probably gem of the Roco part of my collection, a lone Churchill.
As you can see (and has been mentioned on this blog), my vehicles are a mixture of true 1/87 vehicles from Roco, Boley, Eko, and others, plus a mix of die-cast and plastic vehicles that happen to be in generally the right size. The topmost trucks are all modern M998 trucks from Maisto, but I use them quite happily in my WW2 forces of all sides. If I eventually get enough Roco trucks of the correct nationality and era, I may phase them out, but for now they suit me fine. Similary, the third row down shows a mixed bag of diecast US half-tracks from at least three manufacturers, most of them the sort with AA guns. These are also happily used as troop transports of all sides as needed, until such time as proper replacements can arrive. Given that the Roco/Heiser halftracks tend to sell from $12-30 each, this will be a while.
I still don't know who makes the undersized cheap plastic panzers near the front. These too may eventually be replaced when I can afford the proper 1/87 vehicles. The very front row has several jeeps, a number of which are missing parts (which is their state when I bought them). It also has the probably gem of the Roco part of my collection, a lone Churchill.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
On the Workbench
Having done some random bits of progressing the past couple of days, I decided it was time for one of the traditional cluttered workbench pictures, plus some updates. As usual, click on a picture for a larger version. First the cluttered workbench. Right now, there's nothing else demanding the bench, so I've got my wargaming stuff spread out on it, so I figured it was a good time to take a picture. It's actually slightly more cluttered now, as that shot was a couple of days before some of the latest work. Those who follow my SYW ImagiNations can see some of the primed and partly painted figures off to the right side of the desk. Top center is Delta Ceramcoat paints, with Vallejo paints at top right.
Next up, we have further progress on the 10mm ACW figures. I painted blanket rolls on two more stands, going with Vallejo 869 Basalt Gray this time.
I also decided to begin painting on the remaining two buildings that were still unpainted all this time. The next picture shows the JR Miniatures 15mm church from their Napoleonic French line. The stonework is done with Delta Ceramcoat 2442 Stonewedge. I'm still not totally decided if I like this. The doors and wooden trim are in Delta Ceramcoat 2055 Autumn Brown. For the roof, I'm thinking of going with a dark red color.
With a bit of left-over Autumn Brown from the above, I painted the spear shaft of the leftmost Warrior Frog in the next picture.
Next up, we hav the other "Servant's Quarters" building from JR Miniatures, again from their 15mm Napoleonic French line. I've undercoated it with my usual white acrylic gesso. I'm thinking of going for a blue shade possible for the walls of it; haven't decided for sure.
And last but not least, I've finally gotten up the courage to take one of the Paul Heiser 1/87 scale British Scout Carriers out of its bag, trim/sand/snip/poke the flash from (most of) it, and get an undercoat of white gesso on it. I've got another one of these to go after it, and want to get a few more to equip my partial carrier platoon. A look back at the workbench photo will reveal a German Sdkfz 250 also awaiting painting and assembly.
Next up, we have further progress on the 10mm ACW figures. I painted blanket rolls on two more stands, going with Vallejo 869 Basalt Gray this time.
I also decided to begin painting on the remaining two buildings that were still unpainted all this time. The next picture shows the JR Miniatures 15mm church from their Napoleonic French line. The stonework is done with Delta Ceramcoat 2442 Stonewedge. I'm still not totally decided if I like this. The doors and wooden trim are in Delta Ceramcoat 2055 Autumn Brown. For the roof, I'm thinking of going with a dark red color.
With a bit of left-over Autumn Brown from the above, I painted the spear shaft of the leftmost Warrior Frog in the next picture.
Next up, we hav the other "Servant's Quarters" building from JR Miniatures, again from their 15mm Napoleonic French line. I've undercoated it with my usual white acrylic gesso. I'm thinking of going for a blue shade possible for the walls of it; haven't decided for sure.
And last but not least, I've finally gotten up the courage to take one of the Paul Heiser 1/87 scale British Scout Carriers out of its bag, trim/sand/snip/poke the flash from (most of) it, and get an undercoat of white gesso on it. I've got another one of these to go after it, and want to get a few more to equip my partial carrier platoon. A look back at the workbench photo will reveal a German Sdkfz 250 also awaiting painting and assembly.
Friday, August 15, 2008
More painting
A couple of days ago provided another opportunity to get a little painting in. I started on the next step of the 10mm ACW figures, then had some paint left over so I went ahead and dug out a couple of other figures. As usual, click on the photo to zoom in.
Step 3: Skin
For step 3, I started on faces and hands, and backs of necks in some cases, for my 10mm ACW figures. I wasn't very worried about being neat, beyond trying not to paint over the rifles too much, but stages to come may require more care. I have some ideas to try.
I also had a chance to work on face and hands for my lone test figure for WW2 British plastic troops. I suspect I'll change my technique up some the next one I paint, but I'm reasonably pleased that the figure is actually somewhat usable in that state. I intend to do more, but for the period, a simple basic color and distinct face and hands is not a bad basic setup.
Meanwhile, check out my Hesse-Engelburg and Ober-Schweinsberg blogs to see the other two figures I worked on. For those of you not familiar with them, just click the "View my complete profile" link at the top of this page and scroll down to find links to them.
Step 3: Skin
For step 3, I started on faces and hands, and backs of necks in some cases, for my 10mm ACW figures. I wasn't very worried about being neat, beyond trying not to paint over the rifles too much, but stages to come may require more care. I have some ideas to try.
I also had a chance to work on face and hands for my lone test figure for WW2 British plastic troops. I suspect I'll change my technique up some the next one I paint, but I'm reasonably pleased that the figure is actually somewhat usable in that state. I intend to do more, but for the period, a simple basic color and distinct face and hands is not a bad basic setup.
Meanwhile, check out my Hesse-Engelburg and Ober-Schweinsberg blogs to see the other two figures I worked on. For those of you not familiar with them, just click the "View my complete profile" link at the top of this page and scroll down to find links to them.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Painting and Trades
While nothing impressive, I have made a little painting progress in the past couple of weeks. I started painting my 10mm ACW figures, using a technique found on a web forum for 6mm figures. Pictures below of the first two steps. I'm doing 4 stands of 3 infantry plus one mounted officer, though you can only see two of the stands in the photo. They're mounted with drops of white glue onto a spare bit of plywood for handling. I'm pleased with how that's worked out.
Step one: Priming
I've primed the figures, as with all my priming lately, with Liquitex white acrylic gesso. I'm still learning how much to pour out to coat a certain amount of figures.
Step two: Muskets and Horse
For this stage, I've used Delta Ceramcoat acrylic 02054 Golden Brown. The painting guide recommended going a little lighter for small figures than for large ones, so this was one of the lighter browns in my limited paint inventory. The decision to use it on the horse had more to do with having a fair bit of it left over after completing the muskets than out of any plan regarding horse colors.
Meanwhile, this past week's mail brought in several items. I finally managed to free up some cash to pay for a box that Tom had been holding onto for me, so my Roco forces are now augmented by a Roco Opel radio truck, a Roco Sherman tank, and a Roco Elefant tank destroyer. Also in the box were gun trails to complete my Roco US 105mm Howitzer, and a spare M10/36 tank destroyer hull in case I wished to do a conversion from the Sherman. In the end, I decided I had more need of a Sherman to lead my Matchbox Shermans, so it's been put into service as is.
Also in the mail was the result of a trade for about 300 of my 1/72 plastic Napoleonic figures (I still have more if anyone is interested). I know I'd decided to cut myself down to just Western Front WW2, but I ended up in trade with a box each of Airfix Japanese Infantry and US Marines. I can always trade them later, but having also received a couple of Japanese pack mules, I'm pondering doing a small supply interdiction game. Also included were 2 boxes of British paratroopers, a box of Revell Scottish 8th Infantry, and a box of Revell Afrika Korps. I probably won't use these for Africa (especially since I got rid of my other Africa troops), but rather raid the mostly long-trousered figures for variety in my Western Europe forces....and perhaps the option of doing Italian front battles as well. In line with the latter, I added a box of Italian Alpini. I'm still debating whether to cut off the feathers from the mostly helmeted troops so I can use them as regular Italians with my Airfix/Hat Italians. They'd supply badly needed machine guns for them. Or maybe I'll just leave the feathers on so I have the option to mix or to separate. We'll see.
Step one: Priming
I've primed the figures, as with all my priming lately, with Liquitex white acrylic gesso. I'm still learning how much to pour out to coat a certain amount of figures.
Step two: Muskets and Horse
For this stage, I've used Delta Ceramcoat acrylic 02054 Golden Brown. The painting guide recommended going a little lighter for small figures than for large ones, so this was one of the lighter browns in my limited paint inventory. The decision to use it on the horse had more to do with having a fair bit of it left over after completing the muskets than out of any plan regarding horse colors.
Meanwhile, this past week's mail brought in several items. I finally managed to free up some cash to pay for a box that Tom had been holding onto for me, so my Roco forces are now augmented by a Roco Opel radio truck, a Roco Sherman tank, and a Roco Elefant tank destroyer. Also in the box were gun trails to complete my Roco US 105mm Howitzer, and a spare M10/36 tank destroyer hull in case I wished to do a conversion from the Sherman. In the end, I decided I had more need of a Sherman to lead my Matchbox Shermans, so it's been put into service as is.
Also in the mail was the result of a trade for about 300 of my 1/72 plastic Napoleonic figures (I still have more if anyone is interested). I know I'd decided to cut myself down to just Western Front WW2, but I ended up in trade with a box each of Airfix Japanese Infantry and US Marines. I can always trade them later, but having also received a couple of Japanese pack mules, I'm pondering doing a small supply interdiction game. Also included were 2 boxes of British paratroopers, a box of Revell Scottish 8th Infantry, and a box of Revell Afrika Korps. I probably won't use these for Africa (especially since I got rid of my other Africa troops), but rather raid the mostly long-trousered figures for variety in my Western Europe forces....and perhaps the option of doing Italian front battles as well. In line with the latter, I added a box of Italian Alpini. I'm still debating whether to cut off the feathers from the mostly helmeted troops so I can use them as regular Italians with my Airfix/Hat Italians. They'd supply badly needed machine guns for them. Or maybe I'll just leave the feathers on so I have the option to mix or to separate. We'll see.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Christmas and Birthday
As my birthday was December 23rd, there's a mix of birthday and Christmas stuff to relate. With one exception, everyone's Christmas presents were off in the mail somewhere, but we had a lovely quiet Christmas involving parade, food, naps, and watching movies/DVDs.
Only one truly wargaming related present, in the form of a large collection of acrylic paints, mostly Delta Ceramcoat with a few oddities mixed in. The funny thing is, I put Delta Ceramcoat on my gift suggestion list specifically, as several folks had said they were very good, and the parents discovered a box of used ones that was sitting on a shelf for a year or more now, which my dad had acquired for a woodworking project.
Particularly good is the presence of various shades of greens and tans which will hopefully be useful for the World War 2 figures.
Also applicable to blogging was the provision of a new optical mouse to replace the old one, which started operating incorrectly a couple of months ago.
Besides that, there are 3 DVDs to watch: The Third Man, They Raid by Night (a British film from 1942 about Commando operations in Norway), and Submarine Base, which I think is a wartime US film.
All the previously mentioned incoming items have arrived, and one of them just left again today. I decided to sell the 1/1200 scale ships as they're very nice castings but I really decided I didn't need another period to deal with.
Only one truly wargaming related present, in the form of a large collection of acrylic paints, mostly Delta Ceramcoat with a few oddities mixed in. The funny thing is, I put Delta Ceramcoat on my gift suggestion list specifically, as several folks had said they were very good, and the parents discovered a box of used ones that was sitting on a shelf for a year or more now, which my dad had acquired for a woodworking project.
Particularly good is the presence of various shades of greens and tans which will hopefully be useful for the World War 2 figures.
Also applicable to blogging was the provision of a new optical mouse to replace the old one, which started operating incorrectly a couple of months ago.
Besides that, there are 3 DVDs to watch: The Third Man, They Raid by Night (a British film from 1942 about Commando operations in Norway), and Submarine Base, which I think is a wartime US film.
All the previously mentioned incoming items have arrived, and one of them just left again today. I decided to sell the 1/1200 scale ships as they're very nice castings but I really decided I didn't need another period to deal with.
Monday, November 5, 2007
New toys and other news
October/November has proved to be an active period for me, but much of that activity has been in the realm of trading, buying, and selling troops and vehicles. I'm actively pursuing a goal of sending out items I don't have a need for, and getting in ones I do need/desire.
Recent acquisitions:
2 German Sdkfz 234/3 armored cars
1 German Kubelwagen car
1 German Schwimwagen car
4 German StuG III assault guns with the long 75mm cannon (to make a total of 6)
2 German StuG III assault guns with the short 75mm howitzer
2 US M36 Tank Destroyers (to make a total of 3)
1 British Churchill tank
1 US Sherman tank (to make a total of 6)
1 US Jeep (in need of a front axle repair)
half a Roco 105mm US Howitzer (I need the gun trails)
3 Roco (or clone) German motorcyclists (with MP44s on their back)
I'm still expecting delivery of 1 King Tiger tank.
In kit form, yet to be built, I've added 1 German Sdkfz 250/9 Neu w/20mm turret, and 2 British Scout Carrier Mk I.
Through an idea from the TooFatLardies Yahoo group, I've acquired a set of colored microbeads to use as unit designators on my WW2 infantry. They're a little more micro than I expected. :> I'll have to see whether I need to attach multiple of them instead of just one per level.
I've sorted out an infantry company from my German troops. I have additional units to sort out, and some units to re-sort, as I've shifted from using identical poses within squads to randomly pulling poses out of bags to get a good pose mixture for my WW2 figures.
I've recently obtained some RSM95 28mm Highlanders, which can be seen over on the Hesse-Engelburg blog. I need a few more to make a full battalion.
Also recently received are a set of 25mm WSS French samples from Imperialist Miniatures. You won't find them on the web, as they don't have a presence. But Robert from the Old School Wargaming group is fond of them and kindly offered to arrange samples for those who were interested in seeing them. More on this in a post soon at the Hesse-Engelburg blog, once I've gotten some pictures of them. They're about the same size as my 1/72 scale Italeri AWI British Light Dragoons, if slightly bulkier, so a bit smaller than RSM95s. Very lovely figures, though.
I'm awaiting delivery of a set of sample figures from Frank, and also expecting delivery of two additional figure sets: a group of 28mm Old Glory SYW Austrian Grenadiers, and a group of 28mm Old Glory AWI British Grenadiers.
On the computer gaming front, I've picked up a copy of Call of Duty 2, but I'm having tremendous problems with stuttering. I'm worried that it may be my video card is just not up to snuff.
Last, but by no means least, I'm expecting arrival of several books gifted free from a gamer friend cleaning out his own bookshelves.
Recent acquisitions:
2 German Sdkfz 234/3 armored cars
1 German Kubelwagen car
1 German Schwimwagen car
4 German StuG III assault guns with the long 75mm cannon (to make a total of 6)
2 German StuG III assault guns with the short 75mm howitzer
2 US M36 Tank Destroyers (to make a total of 3)
1 British Churchill tank
1 US Sherman tank (to make a total of 6)
1 US Jeep (in need of a front axle repair)
half a Roco 105mm US Howitzer (I need the gun trails)
3 Roco (or clone) German motorcyclists (with MP44s on their back)
I'm still expecting delivery of 1 King Tiger tank.
In kit form, yet to be built, I've added 1 German Sdkfz 250/9 Neu w/20mm turret, and 2 British Scout Carrier Mk I.
Through an idea from the TooFatLardies Yahoo group, I've acquired a set of colored microbeads to use as unit designators on my WW2 infantry. They're a little more micro than I expected. :> I'll have to see whether I need to attach multiple of them instead of just one per level.
I've sorted out an infantry company from my German troops. I have additional units to sort out, and some units to re-sort, as I've shifted from using identical poses within squads to randomly pulling poses out of bags to get a good pose mixture for my WW2 figures.
I've recently obtained some RSM95 28mm Highlanders, which can be seen over on the Hesse-Engelburg blog. I need a few more to make a full battalion.
Also recently received are a set of 25mm WSS French samples from Imperialist Miniatures. You won't find them on the web, as they don't have a presence. But Robert from the Old School Wargaming group is fond of them and kindly offered to arrange samples for those who were interested in seeing them. More on this in a post soon at the Hesse-Engelburg blog, once I've gotten some pictures of them. They're about the same size as my 1/72 scale Italeri AWI British Light Dragoons, if slightly bulkier, so a bit smaller than RSM95s. Very lovely figures, though.
I'm awaiting delivery of a set of sample figures from Frank, and also expecting delivery of two additional figure sets: a group of 28mm Old Glory SYW Austrian Grenadiers, and a group of 28mm Old Glory AWI British Grenadiers.
On the computer gaming front, I've picked up a copy of Call of Duty 2, but I'm having tremendous problems with stuttering. I'm worried that it may be my video card is just not up to snuff.
Last, but by no means least, I'm expecting arrival of several books gifted free from a gamer friend cleaning out his own bookshelves.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
More Troops
The latest arrivals over the last couple of months:
1) A little over 250 Airfix "Washington's Army" AWI infantry, about 2/3 of them painted.
2) Over 125 Airfix "British Grenadiers", about half of them painted.
3) 1 box Airfix WW2 Italian Infantry.
4) A total of 7 ships and various accessory cards for Pirates of the Revolution.
5) 5 boxes worth of Esci WW2 German Infantry to hopefully finally finish a German Infantry company for my Operation Warboard/I Ain't Been Shot, Mum forces.
I'm hoping with that last group to be able to field a solid 1:1 company of either British Infantry, American Infantry, or German Infantry whenever I desire to, plus 1-3 support platoons of various sorts if desired. Maybe someday I'll actually start painting some of them as well. But they're further down the queue.
1) A little over 250 Airfix "Washington's Army" AWI infantry, about 2/3 of them painted.
2) Over 125 Airfix "British Grenadiers", about half of them painted.
3) 1 box Airfix WW2 Italian Infantry.
4) A total of 7 ships and various accessory cards for Pirates of the Revolution.
5) 5 boxes worth of Esci WW2 German Infantry to hopefully finally finish a German Infantry company for my Operation Warboard/I Ain't Been Shot, Mum forces.
I'm hoping with that last group to be able to field a solid 1:1 company of either British Infantry, American Infantry, or German Infantry whenever I desire to, plus 1-3 support platoons of various sorts if desired. Maybe someday I'll actually start painting some of them as well. But they're further down the queue.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
I Ain't Been Shot, Mum
In the midst of all my Warboard work, the IABSM system from TooFatLardies has been catching my eye. After several interesting battle reports from others, I finally decided to go ahead an acquire it.
Sunday evening, I tried my first game with it, a solo affair with my Italian platoon against one of my British platoons. I only managed 5 moves before I closed down for the night, due to a late start, but I have to say I'm already liking it. It won't replace Warboard for me, most likely...but it's an additional option. The card driven system actually makes it easier for me to solo it, because some of the decision of which unit to move when is taken out of my hands, making it a little harder to favor one side over the other. When game was ended, the British had suffered some significant thrashing of one of their sections on the west side of the board, while on the east side they were engaged in a slow war of attrition via firefight between a British section with light mortar support in a hedged field and an Italian section in the woods.
Sunday evening, I tried my first game with it, a solo affair with my Italian platoon against one of my British platoons. I only managed 5 moves before I closed down for the night, due to a late start, but I have to say I'm already liking it. It won't replace Warboard for me, most likely...but it's an additional option. The card driven system actually makes it easier for me to solo it, because some of the decision of which unit to move when is taken out of my hands, making it a little harder to favor one side over the other. When game was ended, the British had suffered some significant thrashing of one of their sections on the west side of the board, while on the east side they were engaged in a slow war of attrition via firefight between a British section with light mortar support in a hedged field and an Italian section in the woods.
Warboard: Americans
Well, I've been lax on posting for a bit, but the American Infantry I ordered did arrive, and were promptly sent into organizing mode.
1 platoon of armored infantry in half-tracks. Check.
1 recon platoon from an armored infantry battalion TO&E (minus 1 half-track). Check.
1 Infantry company....not so check. You'd think 4 boxes of figures would be plenty, but I'm actually short on some needed poses. So...the infantry company is on hold till I can get some more boxes.
1 platoon of armored infantry in half-tracks. Check.
1 recon platoon from an armored infantry battalion TO&E (minus 1 half-track). Check.
1 Infantry company....not so check. You'd think 4 boxes of figures would be plenty, but I'm actually short on some needed poses. So...the infantry company is on hold till I can get some more boxes.
Friday, March 9, 2007
Warboard: Italians
Well, I now have an armored car platoon and an oddly armed motorized rifle platoon of Italians ready. Oddly armed in this case means that the slightly incomplete box I bought had no machine guns, so they're armed purely with a mixture of rifles and SMGs, except for the officer's pistol. Oddly enough, there are exactly the right number of men for an Italian rifle platoon, however.
Warboard: German Progress
Well, last night I made some progress on the Germans, after doing some more online research. I now have a satisfactory Panzer Company, short 1 tank. So a complete unit of 16 PzIVs is ready to seriously threaten the Allied forces.
To accompany the tanks, I've sorted out a complete Panzer Grenadier Platoon with their half-tracks.
I've got elements as yet undetermined for an assault gun platoon, an armored car platoon, and possibly a heavy tank platoon.
I'm thinking that the panzer company and panzer grenadier platoon, as well as possibly some support units, will be designated as being from a panzer brigade. Other infantry and support units will be from separate units.
To accompany the tanks, I've sorted out a complete Panzer Grenadier Platoon with their half-tracks.
I've got elements as yet undetermined for an assault gun platoon, an armored car platoon, and possibly a heavy tank platoon.
I'm thinking that the panzer company and panzer grenadier platoon, as well as possibly some support units, will be designated as being from a panzer brigade. Other infantry and support units will be from separate units.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Warboard: The Next Project
With my Brits basically settled, except for the leftovers and some need for gun crews, the next project on my Warboard to do list is to organize my Germans into satisfactory platoons, and hopefully a fully company. I'm debating making them a Panzer Grenadier company, and then dropping any leftovers into the infantry or other arms. The odd part about these is that they're a mixed bag of different sets, which I'm planning to combine together. This will make my platoons less uniform, but as I'm doing the latter half of the war anyway, it's not that out of the ordinary for the Germans to have a mixed bag of equipment and uniforms within that time period. We'll see what I end up with. I'm once again using Bayonet Strength as my primary source for their organization, though I will likely continue doing searches here and there for additional info.
I've actually got an abundance of Germans, with German Paratroopers and German Engineers also on the menu. I had intended to have enough Americans to counter-balance the Germans with the addition of my Brits, but made a mistake in my buying and bought two boxes of Modern US Infantry instead of two boxes of WW2 US Infantry. I do have one box worth of US Paratroopers, and some British Commandos to work with.
If anyone needs Revell Modern US Infantry, I've got two sealed boxes I can sell or trade. :>
I've actually got an abundance of Germans, with German Paratroopers and German Engineers also on the menu. I had intended to have enough Americans to counter-balance the Germans with the addition of my Brits, but made a mistake in my buying and bought two boxes of Modern US Infantry instead of two boxes of WW2 US Infantry. I do have one box worth of US Paratroopers, and some British Commandos to work with.
If anyone needs Revell Modern US Infantry, I've got two sealed boxes I can sell or trade. :>
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Warboard: WW2 British Infantry Completed. Maybe.
As of yesterday, I've got my complete British Infantry company read to my satisfaction, with three full platoons and a headquarters. I've also built half a carrier platoon, and plan to add in a 2-gun anti-tank section.
I'm still debating whether to give them the standard 6pdr guns, or go ahead and upgrade them to 17pdr. Historically, the infantry tended to get the left-over 6pdrs as the 17pdrs went first priority to the artillery units. But since they're an attached unit, it's entirely possible they could be an artillery unit attached to that sector. I have an imbalance of tanks in the Germans' favor, so I'm pondering going with that as an equalizer.
This still leaves me with an odd collection of leftovers, and I'm seriously pondering doing some converting of the PIAT teams into infantry with rifles and Stens as I saw someone else doing this by simply cutting the PIAT related items carefully.
I'm open to suggestions though for using them:
10 PIAT teams (1 man marching with PIAT on his shoulder, and a sten. 1 man marching with rifle on his shoulder, and an ammo case in his other hand)
6 2" mortar teams
7 prone Bren gunners
7 running Bren gunners
2 Officers with Stens
I'm still debating whether to give them the standard 6pdr guns, or go ahead and upgrade them to 17pdr. Historically, the infantry tended to get the left-over 6pdrs as the 17pdrs went first priority to the artillery units. But since they're an attached unit, it's entirely possible they could be an artillery unit attached to that sector. I have an imbalance of tanks in the Germans' favor, so I'm pondering going with that as an equalizer.
This still leaves me with an odd collection of leftovers, and I'm seriously pondering doing some converting of the PIAT teams into infantry with rifles and Stens as I saw someone else doing this by simply cutting the PIAT related items carefully.
I'm open to suggestions though for using them:
10 PIAT teams (1 man marching with PIAT on his shoulder, and a sten. 1 man marching with rifle on his shoulder, and an ammo case in his other hand)
6 2" mortar teams
7 prone Bren gunners
7 running Bren gunners
2 Officers with Stens
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Almost there!
Received the two boxes of Brits in the mail today, and spent a piece of the evening sorting out the remaining two platoons. I ended up re-organizing the first platoon a bit as well, to get the figures sorted to my satisfaction, but now I have three identical platoons consisting of:
HQ
===========
1 officer w/Sten (Subaltern, Platoon Commander)
1 kneeling Sten (Sergeant)
1 2" mortar team
2 riflemen (runners)
1st Squad
===========
1 kneeling Sten (Corporal, Squad Leader)
Bren Section
-------------
1 throwing grenade, carrying rifle (Lance Corporal)
1 Bren
1 rifleman
Rifle Section
----------------
6 riflemen
2nd Squad
============
1 kneeling Sten (Corporal, Squad Leader)
Bren Section
-------------
1 throwing grenade, carrying rifle (Lance Corporal)
1 Bren
1 rifleman
Rifle Section
----------------
6 riflemen
3rd Squad
===============
1 kneeling Sten (Corporal, Squad Leader)
Bren Section
-------------
1 throwing grenade, carrying rifle (Lance Corporal)
1 Bren
1 rifleman
Rifle Section
----------------
4 riflemen
1 PIAT team
On the down side, I had to strip my carrier platoon to fill out the third platoon, and I still have to fill out a proper Company HQ. But I'm less concerned about the carrier platoon than having a full infantry company, so it's all good.
HQ
===========
1 officer w/Sten (Subaltern, Platoon Commander)
1 kneeling Sten (Sergeant)
1 2" mortar team
2 riflemen (runners)
1st Squad
===========
1 kneeling Sten (Corporal, Squad Leader)
Bren Section
-------------
1 throwing grenade, carrying rifle (Lance Corporal)
1 Bren
1 rifleman
Rifle Section
----------------
6 riflemen
2nd Squad
============
1 kneeling Sten (Corporal, Squad Leader)
Bren Section
-------------
1 throwing grenade, carrying rifle (Lance Corporal)
1 Bren
1 rifleman
Rifle Section
----------------
6 riflemen
3rd Squad
===============
1 kneeling Sten (Corporal, Squad Leader)
Bren Section
-------------
1 throwing grenade, carrying rifle (Lance Corporal)
1 Bren
1 rifleman
Rifle Section
----------------
4 riflemen
1 PIAT team
On the down side, I had to strip my carrier platoon to fill out the third platoon, and I still have to fill out a proper Company HQ. But I'm less concerned about the carrier platoon than having a full infantry company, so it's all good.
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