Never Forget the Officer!

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Regular visitors will remember that I recently painted up a couple of squads of Peter Pig WW2 German cavalry that I'm using as early war mounted scouts:

Although you can see the squad commanders (two of them, furthest row) you'll note the absence of Big Man to lead the platoon forward. Well that's because as I was ordering them I was thinking that I had plenty of German Big Men, so wouldn't need any more. Problem is, of course, that although I have Big Men, I don't have any mounted Big Men!

This is where Peter Pig really come into their own. You can buy four "German Mounted Officers" in a pack rather than with, say, Battlefront, having to buy a whole blister or make some sort of never-arriving special order.

So here's the Big Man to lead the mounted scouts forward. Face looks vaguely familiar...

Polish Taczankas

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A couple of week's ago, I was complaining that I couldn't find any decent 15mm WW2 taczankas for my nascent Polish army: all that was on offer was the model from True North which was too solid, had four horses, and not enough crew.

Well as I still haven't been able to find any, and need to start play-testing the scenarios from my forthcoming September War scenario book (I've written the scenarios: just formatting it all now), I decided to bite the bullet and see what I could do with the four True North versions that I'd already bought.

So I now have are four pseudo-taczanka that will be fine on the tabletop but won't stand up to close scrutiny!

The base is the too-bulky True North wagon, with its horribly cast crew of two sitting figures, one in a forage cap and one in what I think is supposed to be a French-style helmet. I've cut the shaft (or tongue) right down, and put only three horses in front, evenly lined up as opposed to being driven unicorn.

The sitting gunners are from either the Battlefront or the Forged in Battle Polish MMG set (I forget which); the standing gunner is a spare Battlefront Polish anti-tank gun crew member, kneeling next to the True North (unmanned) MMG.

So I think that they will do for the moment, and can possible be replaced if anyone ever does release a better model. Now on with the play-testing...

Wanted: 15mm Polish Taczankas

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As I get to the end of actually writing the Polish campaign book for IABSM, it's time to start finishing off my Polish army so that proper play-testing can begin.

I've got my infantry (Battlefront), and most of my cavalry (Forged in Battle), and what armour I need is readily available (Battlefront mostly, I think). The only thing I can't find anywhere is a Polish Taczanka i.e. the purpose-built cart to carry an MMG.

Both Battlefront and Peter Pig do Soviet taczankas...but they are very different, much heavier, than the Polish versions. They also have four horses, whereas the Polish version had three horses.

True North, via Old Glory, do a "Polish" taczanka, but having bought four, I can tell you that the cart is all wrong, it has four horses, no-one to fire the machine gun, and the sitting figures are horrible. QRF and Outpost both do Poles, but neither has a taczanka in their listings.

So...help!

Where can I find 15mm models of the Polish taczanka? Is there anyone out there who does one? Here are a few pics to help jog the memory:

Bloodaxe Miniatures Added

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I try and keep my listings of manufacturers of WW2 and Sci-Fi figures as complete and up-to-date as possible, but I'm always coming across new ones that I've previously missed.

One such is Bloodaxe Miniatures, who produce a variety of esoteric ranges (Ancient Hawaiians anyone?) and WW2 figures for both the early and later war periods.

I haven't got any of them myself, but their site does contain a few pictures of unpainted models so that you can see what you are getting.

Here's a pic of something that did take my fancy: a "generic field car".

Might get one of these as a range tester!

A Rather Useful Tool

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I was in my local Games Workshop the other day, stocking up on various paints after the Christmas break, and was idling chatting to the store manager about various painting techniques and the like.

As I was popping a pot of one of their texture basing 'paints' onto the counter, I happened to mention that I used old paint brushes to apply the texture. Ah, said the manager, you should use one of these:

Now I'm all for having the right tools for the job, but this seemed a bit excessive, especially as that finely carved bit of plastic will set you back £5.

However, I was using up a voucher, and had enough left over to indulge, so I thought I'd get one and try it out...especially as I was fully expecting to be disappointed and have the opportunity to be suitably obnoxious about it next time I was in (what is it about GW stores that make me want to be obnoxious? I don't know: but it's true of all of them!).

Anyway, turns out I was wrong. I used this to base the Israeli half-tracks I posted about yesterday, and it really makes the job a hell of a lot easier that using an old paint brush, even when you attempt to carve said old paint brush into a suitable shape. I would go as far to say that that bit of plastic is the best thing as a basing tool since, er, sliced bread.

So, as compensation to GW for being prepared to doubt their products before I've even tried them, I'm posting about their tool here, and recommending one to everyone who needs to smear a bit of basing material onto a base!

More 15mm Poles

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Still working on my 15mm WW2 Poles for the September War, and the Christmas break has allowed me to finally finish the lancers.

I don't know what it is about cavalry, but they seem to take four times as long to finish as infantry. It must be something to do with all the horse furniture!

Anyway, here are twenty lancers from Forged in Battle which, if I say so myself, have turned out quite well.

I've also painted up four two-man anti-tank rifle teams. These are in infantry helmets, but will probably serve as dismounted cavalry as well.

These look okay on the tabletop, but haven't photographed particularly well.

Right, that's it from my painting in 2016. Plenty on the painting table that will just spill over into next year...

15mm Sturmtiger from Zvezda

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You've got to hand it to Zvezda.

Of all the vehicles they could have released to compete in the WW2 wargaming marketplace, they release the Sturmtiger: a vehicle that no wargamer could possibly want more than one of (except for Kev: he needs loads). They only built nineteen of the damn things anyway.

But release it they have, and bought one I have...probably to use as some kind of objective or objective marker.

It's a nice model: easily up to Zvezda's usual high standards. Paints up well. As I said, the only problem is finding an excuse to actually get it onto the tabletop.

Here's a couple of shots of mine:

Mounted Scouts

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Here's a first for me: some mounted scouts for my WW2 Germans.

These are to join my 1939 Germans as they invade Poland as part of the play-testing of my forthcoming Poland in Flames scenario pack. I'm currently on #25 out of #55, so powering ahead!

The figures are from Peter Pig, and I had forgotten what a pleasure Mr Pig's minis are to paint, even if you are only a mediocre painter such as myself.

The great thing is that the figures are so detailed and have so many packs and saddlebags, that even if you just block paint everything and then pop a wash on, then they come up brilliantly.

These are the two 8-man squads I need as infantry mounted scouts. Almost tempted to get some more now just for the craic!

Ferdinands from Zvezda

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Just about the last of the half-term painting, and the last of the mass of Zvezda vehicles I bought myself for my birthday in August: a couple of Ferdinand tank destroyers.

Reading up about these, I was surprised to learn that they are named after Ferdinand Porsche, the designer and how very KV of the Germans, and how early they went into service: summer 1943, making them mid- rather than late-war monsters. It's the modified version of the Ferdinand, the Elefant, that's more of a later war beast.

There were only 91 of them ever modified from the Tiger I hull, so it seems appropriate to only field two of them, and to only pay a few quid for each model...as I can't see them being used very often.

Nice models, easy to put together, easy to paint. Go Zvezda!

More Poles!

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More of the half-term painting to display.

This time it's a four-gun Polish MMG platoon for my force for the 1939 September War.

These are actually a mix of Forged in Battle and Battlefront figures. I happened to have acquired a pack of each, so chose the figures I liked best from both. For example, the FiB MMGs come separately as nice chunky individual weapons, which I like, whereas the Battlefront one come with the tripod and shooter as one piece and the gun barrel as another. The Battlefront faces, however, being more detailed, paint up better, and some of the FiB foot are in very strange poses. A mixture of the best of both is definitely the right solution.

Incidentally, I've painted four MMGs rather than three required for an infantry HMG platoon only so that they can, if necessary, proxy for a typical four-gun cavalry HMG platoon, despite the lack of cavalry Adrienne helmets. I might get around to painting a separate cavalry HMG platoon, but I've already got to find tchanka figures and, if you look closely, the leader in the top right corner of each base is actually wearing an Adrienne cavalry helmet. Hopefully no-one will notice!

Quick German Armoured Cars

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In addition to trying to get my Poles up to strength, I'm also bulking out some of the forces needed to oppose them.

Here are a couple of quick German armoured cars (pun most definitely intended): two SdKfz 222s.

These are Zvezda models, so plastic and snap together. They go together very easily, paint up well, and are half the cost of a resin or metal model.

Now I've already got two lovely Battlefront 222s which have seen quite a bit of usage on the tabletop, so these two new models will let me field (should I ever need to: having eight armoured cars scooting around the tabletop might be a bit much...but then there's always a recce troop scenario to plan for!) the 222 element of an entire light armoured car platoon.

Anyway, nice models: well done Zvezda.

Some More Poles Painted

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With the half-term hols upon us, I've taken the chance to finish a few figures that have been sitting on the painting table for far too long.

First up are a few additions to my early war Polish army:  the HQ mortars and a selection of Big Men.

I'm trying to concentrate on the Poles at the moment, as I need to have enough of them done to start playtesting the scenarios in my forthcoming September War scenario pack. That's a collusion between Anatoli and I, and should, when finished, contain 55 separate Poland 1939 scenarios for I Ain't Been Shot, Mum. Scenarios 1-19 are written already, so just need to playtest them and get some photography done at the same time (which is why I can't use proxies).

Finally, I also got around to painting the Warbases 15mm Pegasus Bridge bunker. Nice little model: it's my paint job that's uninspiring! And the pic is a bit blurred too!

Zvezda BT-5 Soviet Tanks

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Following on from yesterday's post, here's the other platoon of Soviet tanks from Zvezda: this time five 15mm BT-5 tanks. 

I didn't like these quite as much as the T-26's, but they are still great models.

These kits snap together so well that I didn't even bother with reinforcing glue. The turrets come in one piece, which is a huge improvement on anything that requires you to glue a gun barrel in place (not a lot of surface area on the rear end of a gun barrel!), and means that even after undercoat, wash, finish etc, the turrets were easy to swivel.

 

More Zvezda Models

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Rather than dive back into the Polish cavalry, I thought I'd quickly knock-up another lot of the Zvezda tanks that I bought in August.

I've got two platoons of Soviet tanks to build, so here's the first one: a platoon of five T-26 tanks.

These are typical Zvezda models. They come in five parts and can be snapped together with no effort, although I do tend to pop a teeny tiny drop of Superglue just to be sure they stay together. As you can see, detailing is good, and they respond well to a sprayed undercoat, brown wash and then highlight. 

Looking at these, I think they are supposed to be T-26 obr.33, described as having a "cylindrical turret", which would make the Battlefront T-26's  that I have T-26 obr.38 or 39, described as having a "conical turret". If that is the case, then the slight size difference between the two manufacturers matters even less than normal.

Here are my Battlefront models so that you can make your own minds up:

IABSM: Polish Gallery Begun

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I've finally painted enough  troops to make it worth while starting a Polish gallery on the site: elements of a Polish Cavalry Regiment.

You can reach the gallery by clicking here.

People sometimes ask me why I bother to photograph all my troops and then organise them into galleries.

The main reason, or at least the one I admit to most frequently, is that it makes it very easy to keep track of all the figures I have. Yes, I have the sheer numbers of each type kept in an Excel spreadsheet, but the galleries allow me to see exactly what I can field by organised historical force, and help identify the gaps that need filling.

Right: back to the painting table. Ten early war Soviet tanks almost finished, and then it's back to the Poles...

 

 

Zvezda Panzer 38(t)s

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Alongside the Panzer IIs featured in yesterday's post, I also built and painted five Zvezda Panzer 38(t) tanks. Again, these will be used to flesh out larger tank forces for the bigger or tank-only battles in various Poland '39 scenarios.

These were painted in the same way as yesterday's models: sprayed black then heavily dry-brushed in grey, then black ink on top. Unfortunately, both sets of tanks have come out very black rather than any sort of panzer grey colour. Might be something to do with the fact they are plastic not resin, but is more likely the fact that my black ink should have been watered down. Ah well, I'm sure there were tanks that were more black than grey at some stage in 1939/40!

These are again nice looking models, and so quick and easy to bult that there's really no excuse for not having a company, or at least a couple of platoons, of them!

First of the Zvezda Re-Inforcements

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As previously mentioned, as a birthday gift to myself I bought a whole load of Zvezda kits to flesh out my early war tank forces.

For the Germans, this involved buying a platoon of Panzer IIs and a platoon of Panzer 38(t)s in order to allow me to field some of the larger tank forces that appear within my forthcoming Poland in Flames scenario pack for IABSM v3 (the background and ten of the seventy-one scenarios are written so far. Yes, I did say 71 scenarios!).

Here's the first of the two:  five Panzer IICs. Nice models: easy to put together (my nine year old built them) and very cost effective but a little bit smaller than the Battlefront metal-and-resin kits. There's also something a little insubstantial about them compared to the Battlefront model, which proves that you gets what you pays for! Still, very suitable as a not-used-very-often extra platoon.

IABSM: First of the Mounted Poles

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I've finally managed to finish my first unit of Polish cavalry: a squadron of Dragoon-types in their Adrienne helmets.

These have taken me an age to do. Not sure why: not too complicated, and just a couple of layers on everything. Probably something to do with the horses making each figure the equivalent of two figures, I suppose.

Here they are:

I've painted them the same colour scheme as the dismounted cavalry I finished last month. Some might comment that Polish uniforms should be more brown than the moss shade that I have used. Quite right: but if I'd painted them the same brown colour, then I might as well have used my Russians or my French. At least this way I have a distinctly different look, even if it not quite exactly historically accurate.

And after all, maybe the uniforms were brown and have faded under the rigours of war!

The figures are from Forged in Battle. The horses and basic bodies are very nice, but the faces are very small (accurately so!) and therefore quite difficult to paint well. Hate to say it, but the Battlefront cartoon characters paint up better...well, faces, anyway.

These aren't shiny, by the way, but sprayed with Testors Dullcoat to finish.

15mm Poles: Outpost Wargame Services

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Every time you think you have the complete set, you find out that you have missed one!

That is most definitely true of my list of WW2 15mm figure manufacturers: I thought I had them all, but then someone posts about Outpost Wargame Services, who have a range of 15mm Poles, the very army that I'm currently building. 

Hangs head in shame!

Well I have put that right now: Outpost are added to the list, and below you'll find a couple of pics of some of their Poles. Might have to fill in the gaps in my collection with a few of these...once I get the bl*@dy cavalry finished of course!

Click here to go to the Outpost website.

Polish Infantry from Outpost Wargame Services

Polish Cavalry from Outpost Wargame Services