Reinforcements (or I’m going to need a bigger box)

July 2021 was a looong time ago. Lots of hobby stuff has happened, I just haven’t posted ANY of it for no particular reason.

I’ve been into Chain of Command for a while and have  been collecting a 101st Airborne force.

Looks a little cramped in the box so on the tabletop it looks like this:

HQ, bazooka, three squads, and mortar squad.

I also have two additional bazooka teams, three medics, a sniper, a MG and 4 spare infantry I can use to be a 3 man engineer demo team or to bump up the MG team to have 5 crew. Oh and two Sherman’s and a firefly for reasons.

Finally the other pieces have been completed. Another Sherman which gives me a full tank platoon. A Jeep with a mounted MG. An anti-tank gun and another mortar.

I also grabbed 8 crew for the weapons teams as I don’t really like using riflemen for crew. And another 8 riflemen to get the three squads into full compliance with rifles instead of songs or carbines.

Here’s a scale comparison of the troops.

L to R: Bolt Action, Artizan, Bolt Action, Artizan.

So they are basically done. I have decals for shoulder flashes and should put some markings on the Sherman’s but that’s for some other rainy day.

Charlie Foxtrot and Harry Potter

Around the time I was painting the Sarissa large farmhouse and building Chain of Command lists and watching lots of YouTube videos, I stumbled across Charlie Foxtrot Models.

I’d heard of them before and gone through their website once or twice but that was it. I was watching Nick from TooFat Lardies put together a hotel and decided to check them out further.

Well today I heard the doorbell and arrived to see the mailman walking away. I figured it was something I had ordered. My 5 year old pushed open the door and said “look it’s for me” grabbed the box and ran off into the house. (There’s a stamp on the exterior that reads Charlie Foxtrot Models, and his name is Charlie F., so close enough).

After a short foot chase, I got the box back and opened it up.

This will give me 4 medium to large buildings and two smaller ones. Hopefully I can get started this long weekend! Luckily in preparation for his I have some spray cans (textured paint) I purchased especially for this.

Over the last month or so, the oldest has been obsessed with Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle line of games. We just finished reading the 7th book with him and watched all the movies (books before movies).

I saw that there were several expansion cards so I scoured the Internet. I think we are issuing one.

I enjoy deck builders and Harry Potter so this was a no brainer.

We also played a home brew Russian Civil War game but I’ll post about that this weekend when I have more time.

WWII French Farmhouse Part 2

Well, it’s completed. I finished it on Sunday.

Oathmark Dwarf Champion for scale.

Picture of the front. I just need a name for the store. I’m thinking the Farmer’s wife sells excess produce, dairy  and baked goods inside. I want a funny name but nothing too risqué.

I’m thinking the farmer’s name is Jim Appel (je m’appelle, get it, get it?)

Picture of the rear. I might put down a few more droplets of wash here and there. I was also thinking about putting some cobblestones and straw down inside the archway...

But for now I’m calling it done. Pretty happy with how this one turned out.

WWII French Farmhouse

I’ve been bitten pretty hard lately by the Chain of Command bug.

Ive has paratroop forces for Britain, USA and Germany for quite some time as well as an MDF large farmhouse from Sarissa Precision.

I primed it beige and used Citadel Contrast for the stone work. I brushed on some green wash for weathering and smeared it with my finger.

I wasn’t happy with how this looked so decided to try again.

I got out some trusty spackle and mixed in some water until it was like toothpaste.

I then dabbed it on the surfaces to create a stucco look.

As the building was already assembled, it was difficult to get it consistent around the windows.

Today, with the beautiful weather, I used a medium brown spray paint to lightly dust the exterior walls.

I then used a lighter brown to dry brush the walls, which added depth.

Next I started to paint the windows and doors in white.

I have to finish the sign and the remaining windows and doors. I also have to pick out the stones along the bottom in grey and around the archway.

I’ll probably add some wash down some of the walls to look like dirt and grime.

Here are some  pictures of the progress.

Lt. Winters Miniature II

Alrighty,

So my limited edition Dick Winters mini arrived. Minimal flash. Pretty crisp casting. Only assembly was putting kneeling leg on.

I was under the impression that the dog tags supplied were resin but mine were metal. Doesn't matter either way as I have zero use for them.

The only issue I have with this figure and it was definitely my own fault was it has come off the base once already. I didn't use enough glue as I didn't want it glopping out under the knee and foot. 

I did watch Band of Brothers and I found the scene at Brecourt Manor where Winters is kneeling and motioning with his hand like that. I thought it was pretty neat.

Productive

This week has proven rather productive as I applied sand onto the MDF/spackled bases. I also added some sticks (fallen logs) to 3 of the weapons bases. Although I forgot to take pictures.

Lastly, I primed the HQ, one Fallschirmjager section, the sniper team and the Panther. 

Fallschirmjager Force

Alright, yesterday I based my Warlord Games German Fallschirmjager and built my 2 Panzer IVs.

The Germans are based on Sarissa Precision 2mm MDF bases 25mm in diameter. The weapons teams are 60mm in diameter. The white stuff is drywall spackle. 

There is an HQ, 3 11 man squads, a mortar+ spotter, a machine gun team, sniper team, panzer shriek team and flamethrower team, a panther, Stug IIIG and 2 panzer IVs.

I wanted to prime them today but it's raining :(

German Armour

In March, I made a purchase from Warlord when they upped their Wheels of Steel discount from 10% to 20% off any 3 vehicles purchased.

I've built the Stug III G from that order and a Panther, I picked up from the 1st Hold the Line Convention.

Panther on right, Stug on left.

Just the other day I opened the 2 Panzer IV's I got from Warlord and I found this.

It appears that the rear left handed trank guard snapped off of both tanks. Both were bubble wrapped and the boxes weren't damaged. Either there is a problem with the mold and it's a fragile piece or they were damaged and sent any ways. I created a post on Warlord's forum so am awaiting a response. Some glue has fixed the issue.

So what's this all about?

A little over a week ago I posted a picture of three Allied tanks I had built. A discerning eye might recognize them as belonging to the WWII era. But what am I working on?

Well, waaay back on Friday March 21st, 2014, I attended Hotlead, Ontario's premier wargaming convention, held in Stratford, Ontario with my dad.

 We decided to attend the Friday gaming night instead of just attending on the Saturday (raiding the bring and buy).

We managed to get in on a 28mm WWII game put on by a GM named Brad. The game used the Rules of Engagement (RoE) ruleset modified with a modified dice initiative from Bolt Action.

The objective of the game was an annihilation scenario between the Canadian and German armies.

Each force consisted of an HQ, two infantry squads, an anti-tank unit, machine gun unit and a tank. Each unit had a coloured marble in a bag ( Canadian=green and German = white). There was also a black marble in the bag. So if a green marble was drawn by the GM, the Canadians could activate any unit that hadn't been activated yet. And vice versa for any white marbles drawn. The black marble ended the turn.

My father and I teamed up against another father and son tandem. We were the Canadians. We won the game with the narrowest of victories with an immobilized Sherman and 4 troops still alive.

 That night, I picked up a copy of RoE and a boxed set each of Warlord's British Red Devils and German Fallschirmjagers from J&M Miniatures.

The next morning, I raided the bring and buy and had fleshed out a legal Fallschirmjager list. Brad the GM was putting on a second game, this time with double the infantry units and 4 tanks. My dad and I opted to be the Germans this time.

The objective of this mission was to hold the most objectives by the end of the game. Several turns later, after knocking out the last Allied tank while still having all 4 of our tanks in play, we were looking good. We managed to hold the most objectives when the game ended to earn another hard fought win.

This blog will document my foray in WWII gaming focusing on the RoE ruleset and possibly others at a later date.

Tanks!!

Some progress. I bought these 2 Sherman M4A3 tanks and the Sherman Firefly VC in April when Warlord games had a 20% off Wheels of Steel deal (basically, buy three Bolt Action vehicles and get 20% off).

 The Firefly went together the easiest (despite not having a construction diagram). Both Sherman's needed their turrets shaved down until they'd fit onto/into the hull. One of the gun barrel ports needed to be drilled out so the metal barrel would fit.

 Overall, despite some casting issues, the kits went together fairly well. My only real criticism is a lack of assembly instructions. Even the construction diagrams on Warlord's site aren't great.

 Hopefully I can get some German armour done next...

Lt. Winters Miniature

Those fortunate enough to attend Historicon can pick up a limited edition USA airborne Lt. Richard Winters. Those not fortunate enough to attend can get him from Warlord Games website for $16.00USD. It seems like a money grab for 1 figure with a resin base. Needless to say my 101st need to be led by this hero so I did pick up.