4th Armoured Brigade Modelling Update

Hi Guys, just wanted to give you a quick modelling update for my new project.

Well, the 8 tanks I started on the weekend are just about done. I'm just waiting on the decals to arrive to finish them off. I've also ordered more of the Plastic Soldier Company Sherman II box sets, along with one of their M5 Halftrack box sets.

So, until the decals and/or the other boxed sets arrive I can go no further. But fear not, I have something to keep me busy. I happily agreed to paint my friend Dave's British tanks for him, right up to the point of detailing (He can finish that off). He's got a bunch of Sherman V's, M10's, Cromwell CS's, and AVRE's, so I'll be a busy boy.

Anyway, here's a couple of quick pics of my Sherman II's and Sherman Firefly Vc's taken with my phone. I'll take proper pics with my camera when they're fully finished.

Thanks for taking a look. All comments and criticisms are welcome.

Cheers guys.

Mat.

New army project

Hi Guys, Mat here (Blackwolf), to talk about my new army project.

Well, it's been a while since I last posted something on this blog. Sometimes life gets in the way and the hobby takes a back seat. I'm happy to say my love for FoW never left, and I have been able to keep up with the hobby, buying Battlefronts books when they have hit the shelves and pouring over their website each week, as well as a lot of the fan blogs out there. Finding time for the hobby again has come at a great time, coinciding with the release of the new D-Day compilation books. How excited am I! As well as the 9.SS-Panzer Division now officially in the books (See earlier posts about my SS army), there are now lists for British Independent Armoured Brigades!

"Breakout" min campaign/tournament results

Hi guys, Blackwolf here with a quick report and heaps of photo's from a small one day mini-campaign/tournament that we ran over the weekend.

In conjunction with the Western Suburbs Wargames Association, we at Bunker3030 decided to dip our feet into the fun looking pool that is tournament organization! We wanted to make it a little different too, so we added a campaign element based on Operation Goodwood, once again pitting the Allies in a desperate struggle to take Caen from the Germans.

The campaign element featured a map of Operation Goodwood with three 'axis of attack'. With six players per side, two from each side would fight on each axis, with the results determining if the Allies would push on, or if the Germans were able to hold their ground. Players were swapped between each axis so no one played each other twice.

By the end, history repeated, with the Allies romping home, encircling and capturing Caen, as the Germans withdrew, battered and beaten.

LAAR: 9.SS-Panzer vs 15th Scottish (Operation Epsom)

Hi! Blackwolf here again with another AAR. Once gain its Griddon vs myself, Britain vs Germany, in an epic struggle to claim Normandy and all its fat cattle. The game took place at our local club, the Western Suburbs Wargames Association. My 9.SS-Panzerdivision ‘Hohenstauffen’ boys were pitted against their familiar enemy, the lads of the 15^th Scottish Division.

The Lists

For a bit of fun, I decided to write my list from the ‘Panzerregiment Bake’ PDF from the Battlefront website (You can find it here).

9.SS-Panzerdivision – Confident Veteran

HQ – 1 Panther

Panzer Platoon – 3 Panthers

Schwere Panzer Platoon – 3 Tigers

Rocket Launcher Battery – 3 Nebelwerfer NW41’s + 1 PaK40

Gebirgsjager Platoon – 3 squads + Panzerfaust upgrade

Griddons list was the same as from our last AAR (found here), from Fortress Europe.

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

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

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. 

"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.

6th Guards Tank Brigade - Part 4

Hi All. I thought it would be a good idea to update on my 6th Guards Tank Brigade project.

I've finished the tanks! Hoorah! All six are completely finished including decals, weathering and sealer. I've resisted posting a picture of the whole lot as I want to hold that over until I'm finally finished with the entire 1750 point list. So, for the moment, just a picture of the first one!

I also thought I'd show how I'm doing my machine gun platoon. I have two methods on the go. For the first method I have miniatures glued to the end of a small nail for ease of access. These are the guys from the universal carriers and they might have been quite awkward to paint if glued to the vehicle. I wanted to show this method as it's how I painted the first two of my three British late war rifle platoons. It has its merits for standard 15mm infantry for sure. Ease of access being the main one. This allows you the best chance at catching all the details of the miniatures but once finished you have to glue them to the base and texture / paint the base seperately.

I now prefer to glue my bare metal miniatures to the base, texture the base and undercoat prior to painting. I find this much quicker and with four infantry per base it is usually pretty easy to get in amongst the minis to capture the detail. In the instance of the Vickers machine gun platoon, I'm not sure I had much choice anyway as the Vickers machine gun itself is rather difficult to assemble as it has a very small land area to make the bond for both the Vickers and the belt feed. Super Glue makes short work at messing up paint jobs so it just wasn't worth the risk for me.

Book Review: Troop Leader - A Tank Commander's Story

Hi all, Griddon here with a quick book review.

While browsing the WWII section in Borders a month or so ago I found a copy of Troop Leader: A Tank Commander's Story. The book covers the activities of 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars through the Normandy breakout campaign all the way to the eventual occupation of Germany and the immediate post war period.

The book is written by Bill Belamy and is taken from his journal written at the time. These journals were against army regulations but in hindsight I think even the top brass can acknowledge the value they add to understanding the conflicts and learning valuable lessons. The author talks about his experiences in the various roles he had such as Squadron Echelon leader, through Troop Leader and subsequently, Reconnaissance 2IC.

6th Guards Tank Brigade - Part 3

Yo. Back again with a quick update. With my exams now over I'm free to concentrate on more fun things. Having prepared my Churchills before the exam I was good to go with some painting this weekend. I managed to get from bare resin / metal to fully painted over the course of a couple of days. Probably about 4 hours total work. They aren't finished yet. They need about 30 minutes of work each with the decals but I'll get round to that this week.

So, for the painting I went with the basecoat, wash and drybrush method for the main armor and did some detail work only on the various bits of gear strapped to the tank.

Here is a quick run down of the process for those who aren't familiar. Let's assume you've got your preferred primer already on the model.

Step 1: Basecoat by brush, two thin coats of Russian Uniform.

I didn't worry too much about getting Russian Uniform where it wasn't wanted at this point as the tracks get a coat of very dark brown later.

6th Guards Tank Brigade - Part 2

Hi all. Griddon here with an early update on the 6th Guards Tank Brigade bits I'm putting together and painting.

I received all my bits courtesy of Viv at Battle Bunker, Northcote. (If you haven't come across Viv yet, he's a bit of a Youtube personality. Check him out. Lots of cool scenery videos.) I cracked open the Churchill blisters and settled in for a quiet Saturday morning assembling all the tanks. As usual, the first process is to check the resin for defects, remove the flash and then wash the resin parts in warm soapy water. While they are drying I set to fixing and filing the metal bits.

6th Guards Tank Brigade - Part 1

Hi all. Griddon here with a introduction into a quick mini project I have planned before I start my Germans in the Aussie winter. I'd like to call this project: "Project Churchill Awesome". 6th Guards Tank Brigade is probably more sensible and accurate. I have six Chuchills and a Machine Gun Platoon to paint and then we can give the Germans something with slightly more resiliance than wet paper to shoot at.

We'll do some history first. This is a bit back to front as I first decided I wanted to get some Churchills on the table and I then went looking for historical justification. Let's pretend I did it the other way around for a moment. (I'll admit this also. When picking a historically accurate unit, I wanted to make sure I could get decals to suit.) So having done some research I decided on representing 6th Guards Tank Brigade, 4th Tank Battalion Coldstream Guards. There is quite a lot of information on these guys online. Google is your friend as always. Some references were contradictory but this is pretty much par for the course for the lesser known combatants in the war. What I do know is that the Bridage landed at Gold and Juno beaches on July 20th 1944 and almost immediately went ito action supporting the 15th Scots in Operation Bluecoat. Here, the 6th Guards Tank Brigade were the unfortunate recipients of some unwanted attention from a Jagdpanther from 654 schwere Panzerjägerabteilung. Let's just say, the Jagdpanther did particularly well. Read more at your leisure. As I mentioned, decal availablilty is important. Dom's Decals has got me covered here and they supply the tank names in decal form too. This info at Northirishhorse tells me what the tank names were for each tank in the battalion so I'm basically fully set.

Irish Guards Column March - Operation Garden

Hi all. Griddon here. About time we got some allies up on this blog. Blackwolf popped over earlier and we did some serious production lining at Dave's to get some roads ready. Post on those later no doubt. Afterwards we took to the garden and got the cameras out.

The Irish Guards are my first force in Flames of War. I didn't really know what I was getting into when I placed the order for the whole lot at once. Needless to say I was massively overwhelmed with 'little manz' when the package arrived. 'I've got to paint how many 15mm infantry?'.

At first I didn't really enjoy painting the 15mm scale infantry. The details were often obscured and it felt like a monumnental task even without block painting or shading. As it was I did the force with simple block painting and washing and the end result is cohessive and I think it has the required table top appeal.