The German Army WIP - Pt 2

The work on my German Bolt Action/Iron Cross figures is continuing on.  I have pretty much keep to my one hour per day minimum.  I have cleaned up all of the figures and gotten the first infantry squad, MMG, Panzerschreck Team, 2LT team and Senior Officer team ready for painting and primed.  I also have been able to get all flesh base and steel helmets painted.  I even got more uniform painting completed on the Senior Command team.

I also assembled my Sdkfz 234/1 armored car.  But as I was putting the kit together I noticed that the two turret covers were missing from the package!  This would make the kit look really incomplete.  A simple email to Warlord Games, however, and I have the covers enroute at no cost!  I even asked about buying some French tank crew heads and they included a few heads in with the cover at no cost as an apology for my inconvenience with the turret covers!  True customer service.

These are a couple of pics of the painting.  The photos are really dark, but they give you the idea of what I have been able to accomplish:

The primed figures and work so far. You can see the forlorn 234/1 in the background awaiting the turret covers so it can get primer and a proper paint job!

Here is the Senior Command team.  The officer is in a blue Luftwaffe uniform with a German field grey overcoat.  The other two figures sport blue Luftwaffe uniforms.

The MMG team with the 2LT Command team in the background.

I think I am going to really like this army.  I can mix Luftwaffe blue uniforms with Afrika Korps tan/sand uniforms and even get in some camouflage components with both types of uniforms!  I like the mix and match way that the Germans did uniforms.  Adds variety when you are painting and it looks really interesting on the game table.  Sicily/Italy seems to the place where all of the different permutations of uniforms came together.  Not just for the Germans either.  The British had not only their European temperate uniforms in Brown, they also had the temperate uniforms in shorts and they had most of their desert uniforms.  Just a really interesting mix.  Makes painting fun!

Thanks for looking!

Iron Cross Game

I had a chance to play in a game of Iron Cross WWII hosted by my friend AJ. It was a very large game intended to introduce members of our club to the rules. I had a great time serving as the German CIC trying to defend a radar station from attacking British troops. Here is a photo of the of the amazing radar station that AJ made from scratch:

I didn't take many pictures of the game but AJ has a great write-up on his blog HERE.   I did take a couple of other pictures of the forces that I commanded during the game.  AJ has some really great armies for his 28mm skirmish games.  Right now we are playing Bolt Action and Iron Cross rules sets for our skirmish gaming.

An Infantry Squad and supporting 12cm Mortar Team.

My command team and Sdkfz 250/1 transport.  I moved into this position on turn 2 of the game and remained there trying not to get wiped out for the rest of the game!

The Allies really handed us our butts in this game.  I am looking forward to the next try at the rules so I can get some of my wargame honor back!

Starting My German 28mm Skirmish Army!

I don't usually do a Work In Progress (WIP) here on my blog, but I am starting my German Army for 28mm Skirmish Gaming and I want to chronicle the progress as I go.  I also want to put a little bit on pressure on myself to get the force painted so I can use it on the gaming table!.

Here is a photo showing the organization of the force:

The first part of this force is the infantry and some supports.  On the left are two Pak 40, 75mm AT Guns.  The crews are above them.  In the center of picture are three squads each of nine men.  Each squad includes a LMG team of two men.  To the right of the infantry is a Panzerschreck team of three men.  Above the Panzerschreck team is the command team of three men.  Behind the infantry squads is a Medium Machine Gun team.  To the right of the MMG are two sets of command figures which will be my Lieutenants in Bolt Action.  Behind the infantry is a 75mm Infantry gun and crew on the left and a Sdkfz 234/1 armored car on the right.

This will be a good force to start with I think.  Once I get these models painted, I have additional armor and some more supports to follow-up.

So, what will they be painted as?  Well, I want to have a force that is usable in Italy to fight my French forces from the French Expeditionary Corps (FEC) around Monte Cassino or against the Americans/British in the Anzio area.

I have settled on the Hermann Goering Panzer Division.  This is a very interesting unit because it was a Luftwaffe formation - but is made up of some pretty hard fighting formations, lead by good combat veterans.  This means it can be a regular or veteran unit in Bolt Action.  Also, because of the Field Marshal's intervention, the HG Panzer Division had good equipment.

Uniforms will be a very interesting mix of Luftwaffe blues, tropical tans and yellows and regular and SS camouflage!  Should be a lot of fun to paint.

Ok, I want to commit to at least one hour of work on the force each night - more if I can get the time. Should be a few weeks at the really slow pace of my painting.  Can it be done by the end of March?  We will have to see how it goes!  Wish me luck!