Review: The Plastic Soldier Company 15mm Panzer IV

Alrighty then! Griddon here and I'm pretty excited to give you a review of 'The Plastic Soldier Company' 15mm Panzer IVs.

I hadn't heard much about this company until a few weeks ago when I listened the guys on the WWPD podcast talk about the T34s the company makes. They gave the kit a pretty positive review. (I can't remember the episode number but maybe one of the guys will chime in below and help us out!) When I went looking I found out that they also made PzIVs. My German project needs at least ten PzIVs so I figured I'd give them a go. Straight off the bat, they are a solid value proposition. Delivered to my door by the fantastic Irresistible Force here in Australia for $30 AUD per box.

Each box comes with five injection moulded plastic sprues with one Panzer IV per sprue. The Plastic Soldier Company have been very smart about how they went about making this kit and the box is capable of making four variants of this popular tank.. The PzIV Ausf F1, PzIV Ausf F2, PzIV Ausf G and the PzIV Ausf H. I'll be making the PzIV H for my late war force but that leaves me with five kits and I hope to use them for an upcoming mid war army.

The sprue

Making my Normandy Table: "Trois Ponts" Part 4

Hi Folks,

I've been fairly distracted from the table build this week, because I got a shiny army delivery! So, of course, getting stuck into the assembly was my first priority. I love the smell of resin in the morning... smells like victory!

I did get some terrain done though...

LAAR: 9.SS-Panzer vs 15th Scottish

Hi! Blackwolf here with an After Action Report from a battle Griddon and I played today down at our local gaming club, the Western Suburbs Wargames Association. I was using my SS-Panzergrenadiers from 9.SS-Panzerdivision while Griddon was using his British Rifle Company from the 15^th Scottish Division. Points limit was 1750.

THE LISTS

My list comes from Earth & Steel, using the 2.SS list, as the 9.SS PDF is yet to be updated.

9.SS Panzerdivision - Fearless Veteran

HQ – Upgrade both to SMG/Panzerfaust

SS-Panzergrenadier Platoon – 3 squads + Panzerfaust upgrade

SS-Panzergrenadier Platoon – 3 squads + Panzerfaust upgrade

SS-Panzergrenadier Platoon – 3 squads + Panzerfaust upgrade

SS-Mortar Platoon – 2 sections

SS-Anti-Tank Gun Platoon – 3 PaK40’s

SS-Rocket Launcher Battery – 3 Nebelwerfer NW41’s

SS-Assault Gun Platoon – 4 StuG’s

Field Fortifications – 2 HMG Nests

Griddons list was from Fortress Europe. I’ll have to ask him why he didn’t use the actual 15^th Scottish PDF list ;) (Griddon: Because the PDF doesn't allow M10Cs along with a few other points discrepancies for carriers)

15th Scottish Div - Confident Trained

HQ

Rifle Platoon – 3 Squads

Rifle Platoon – 3 Squads

Rifle Platoon – 3 Squads

Anti-Tank Platoon – 2 6 pdr’s

Machine-Gun Platoon – 2 sections + carriers

Tank Platoon – 3 Churchill VI’s + aplique armour

Tank Platoon – 3 Churchill VI’s + aplique armour (only on 2)

Anti-Tank Platoon (SP) – 4 M10C’s

Field Battery, Royal Artillery – 4 gun sections

Beginners: De-mystifying Flames of War

Alright then. As I mentioned in my post earlier this week on the subject of the Games Workshop scandal, the Bunker 3030 authors want to put together a series of post designed to help new players or people not familiar with Flames of War. For this post I want to talk about some of the key differences with Flames of War (FoW) compared to my previous love, Warhammer 40,000.

It's certain that Flames of War is different to Warhammer 40,000 in more than just the type of miniatures used and the scale. However, if you have the ability to comprehend the rules of 40k and assembly and paint the models Games Workshop sells, you are more than qualified to start Flames of War. I'll break if down for you.

News: Games Workshop makes Flames of War even more attractive!

After much rumour and speculation, Games Workshop (GW) this week announced new trading terms for their UK independant stores. You can read the full details over at Maelstrom and Wayland Games sites. The upshot of this is that to most Australian gamers the Games Workshop systems just got a lot more expensive from the end of May. I have no doubt that in time other avenues to achieve the same good price from UK indies will surface. (Erm... Ebay?) However, it's more GWs attitude to fixing the price discrepancy. Instead of conducting some price adjustment to make shopping in Australia more attractive, why not just prevent Australians shopping elsewhere? Not cool and I really don't think the move is going to benefit local gaming stores at all. Combined with GW's recent announcement of their Finecast range, which if you can believe it will cost more than the outgoing metal models, and the total picture for Australian GW product fans is financial pain.

LAAR: Germans vs Brits

Folks! Griddon here with a new acronym. Light After Action Report. I had Robin (Dicehex) and Luke over last night to give them a proper introduction game into Flames of War. Robin and Luke had both played before but just not with proper miniatures at a full 1750 point late war game. Mat was away for the weekend so was kind enough to leave us with a collection of his Germans. I wrote up a mixed German list to face my 6th Guards Tank Brigade with 15ths Scots list I recently finished. Robin commanded the Panzer list and Luke debuted my Churchills playing the Brits. It worked out reasonably well as Robin has a big order in transit for his first Flames of War army and he's picked 21st Panzer Div.

The light part of this AAR is that it doesn't do a turn by turn. It just described what happened in the deployment, early, mid and late portions of the game and shows some photos of the action. Simple. 

Making my Normandy Table: "Trois Ponts" Part 3

Hi Folks,

DiceHex here with another table update. It is amazing how much I can get done when I've got a cold, and I'm waiting for a delivery of little panzer manz!

Orchard:
I mixed some Multi-purpose filler (for cracks in walls, etc) with some paint and sand, until it had the consistency of toothpaste, then smeared it on with a spatula. The shade is a little too grey for soil, but it will be highlighted with a richer brown later on. I then marked in some rough rows, which should be spaced large enough to fit a medium base between.

Eastern Front Table - Part 3

Hi Folks. Griddon again!

A very quick update on my Eastern Front table to show how it's coming together. I got the table out ready for a game Mat and I were going to have tonight. Sadly, Mat deemed grocery shopping more important... Omg... Nein, we cannot stop ze British we have to go buy carrots and Tim Tams. So, the Brit's take the moral victory. Not sure what both sides had in mind on an Eastern Front table but meh. Anyway. I think the table needs more. Which is good, because I have planned more :)

Making my Normandy Table: "Trois Ponts" Part 2

Hi Folks,

DiceHex here with a sit-rep from my forward table workshop. It's quiet and I have a cold.
The picture above is of Royal Engineers in Caen after its capture. Not so picturesque anymore...

MORE SURFACING, and TREES.

I found that some of the natural-style grass flock looked a little too neat, so I sprayed on some urethane glue (can of "spray-grip") and lightly sprinkled some more flock over it, just to blend the two shades of green a little better. After this was dry, to be sure the material had stuck down, I sprayed the sections with matt varnish (an artist sealant product). When the table is finished, I'll apply a heavy coat of matt varnish over everything but the water features, just to add that little bit more durability.

"The Polar Bear Butchers"

Hi, Blackwolf here, with a little post regarding the plans for my next army.

Before I start my next company though, there are a few things I need finish off. First is my Dutch countryside table and scenery, and second, is my small Soviet tank company. I'll post pics of both when they are complete. But in the mean time, I've been planning and buying the models for my next project. Can you guess by the title and the picture? If so, brilliant! You either hail from the fair county of Yorkshire, or, have a firm grasp of British Division nicknames and emblems. If not, let me be your guide ;) So my next project will be an infantry company from the British 49th West Riding Division, who featured a Polar Bear on an ice flow as a divisional symbol (due to being stationed in Iceland in the early part of the war), thus receiving the nickname 'The Polar Bear Butchers' from the Nazi propaganda broadcaster Lord Haw-Haw.

6th Guards Tank Brigade - Part 5 - Finished

G'day folks. Griddon here again with the final installation* of the 6th Guards Tank Brigade mini project. They are finished along with the HMG platoon to turn my Hell's Highway force into a Fortress Europe Confident Trained Infantry list which I'm going to play as 6th Guards Tank Brigade supporting the 15th Scot's.

Not a lot of words for you. Just pictures. Quite a few of them. Tips, advice, comments. All welcome.

Making my Normandy Table: "Trois Ponts" Part 1

Hi Folks,

DiceHex here to share some of the work I've been doing on my most recent wargames table. Having taken the plunge into the exciting world of FoW, I realised I needed a good looking table on which to game. Having a well painted army is great, but putting it on a nice terrain table as well is just awesome. I'd like some more of my gaming group to get involved in Flames, and I figured that an impressive, picturesque setting would be a good way to generate some enthusiasm.

The picture above gives a fairly good idea of the style of table I'm building, with hedges, trees, inset roads, and quaint buildings. I also took a lot of inspiration from other gaming blogs, many of which you can find linked on the right hand side of this page. Instead of using an actual aerial photo for my table map, I decided to invent a little town outside of Caen somewhere, called "Three Bridges", or in this case "Trois Ponts".

Eastern Front Panzer List

The Hornisse / Nashorn

Hi all. Back again with some list discussion. A few weeks back I detailed my plans to get Panzer-Grenadier Division Großdeutschland onto the table. Those plans may be on hold. :) I had some doubts about putting another 'hobby' list together which I already acknowledged wasn't going to be competitive. I've since got a few more games under my belt. I've also been playing World of Tanks a bit. The combined effect was a rewrite of my intended German list.

The aims were quite simple. I wanted competitive. I wanted fun. I also wanted a combined arms list which had Tank Hunters, Panzerspah and a solid back bone of Panzer IVs. Since I also have an Eastern Front table on the go it makes sense to have an Eastern Front list to push about. So, I immediately went to take a look at the Bagration Panzer Divsions PDF available on the Flames of War site. Not bad but aside from some interesting support selections the same lists can be achieved from Fortress Europe and with the later I benefit increased Tank Hunter options.