Wednesday, November 29, 2017

1940-41 German Infantry (Zvezda)

Another infantry battalion to add to my German collection for this era


Command section is Airfix, the two machinegun platoons are Revell, and the mortar platoon is a Zvezda/Pegasus combination


All of the rifle and support weapon platoons are Zvezda.
First Company


Second


Third


Battalion.
I added token white piping to the collars and shoulder boards where possible. 

This could be the best set of German infantry figures (for this era) in 1/72 ever produced.
My only gripe would be the odd grenade shoved down the boot.... ouch!


Sunday, November 26, 2017

Huts and things



Generic wooden house


Orchard templates and bocage from Dave


Ruins.

Monday, November 20, 2017

Making Trees

The ever resourceful David Russell shows us how to make decent trees...


Double wire insert


Measuring the trunk



Cut twine is added to the wire


And spun tight using a drill


The tree is placed in a jar filled with glue and scenery flock


The end result
Practical and inventive as always.

NB ...no child labour was used in the construction of these items..... this time at least :)

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Game. France, 1944

A small game played out by me and Dave. He play the US, me the Germans

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US armoured infantry wasted no time in securing their right flank by occupying the only built-up-area on the map



This is the German right flank. Owing to heavily wooded areas their advance was much slower than the Americans, which cost them important field position



PzIVs supported by assault guns and a company of infantry attempt to control a crossroads that was roughly half way between the two sides

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With some success. The lead company of Sherman tanks took some hits, however their morale was unaffected. Vehicles here are Italeri




More US forces enter the fight via the main road. The Germans had this area fairly well covered, but not for long...



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The PzIV company is all but destroyed by anti tank gun fire and the battered by still capable Shermans 



A risky assault by the StugIIIg company proved disastrous, with two platoons damaged or destroyed by side armour hits 


German infantry take out the anti tank gun position....about three turns too late! Figures here are mostly Revell




With vehicle and infantry losses getting heavy, the Germans tried to anchor the center of their line



About turn 6. The US forces counter attack the German center, with a number of the enemy failing morale checks and fleeing their positions



A final big effort by German infantry attempted to force the Americans out of the village area, which would have allowed some flanking attacks by what was left of their armour


Too little, too late. Despite some decent results the Germans just didn't have enough of anything in the right field position to force the Americans out of theirs. 
David played a really good game. His armoured forces were not as powerful as the Germans and he used the terrain and his infantry to snuff out most of the German attacks.
In terms of position and losses the game was a clear victory to the Americans.

First game we've had in ages, and there'll be plenty more to come. All of the kit in this scenario is from Dave's collection.

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Stugs by Dave

Nice conversions into the assault gun variety



Dave has painted these to a very high standard, with a lot of efforts on detailing the tracks.

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Yet another Airfix resin building

Finished this late last night...

This is my second one of these, window frames, etc left out



These buildings have a very good size footprint in terms of tabletop space and ground scale


This one was a gift from Diana.

Friday, November 3, 2017

Asian Temple

From the wooden kit I started last month


Most gaps were filled and sanded back


Removable roof, although you can only place figures on the second level


Added minor detail with a marker.