From AlanD: 15mm WWII Scottish Infantry & German Ferdinand Tank Destroyer (80 points)

From Alan:

Yes! Here's yet another project!

 

As any visitor to my blog know, I'm a huge fan of the Battlegroup series of rules. I've been loving playing Battlegroup: Kursk over the past year or so, and am also very keen on building up some forces for Overlord and (especially) Fall of the Reich.

 

To this end, I present my first platoon of 1944-5 Tommies. This is made up of a HQ base with PIAT, a 2" mortar and three rifle sections. In Battlegroup British rifle sections can choose to detach their Bren groups, so I've put them on separate bases. The platoon is from the 15th (Scottish) Division, with shoulder flashes supposed to suggest the red lion rampant in yellow circle of the Division.  

Figures are from SHQ and Peter Pig.

Here's an intimidating hunk of resin to strike fear into the hearts of Soviets in Battlegroup Kursk.

I was at my local vaguely friendly model shop when I spotted this Ferdinand from Battlefront and decided to add it to my German troops for Kursk. Despite the characteristic Battlefront price causing me to wince slightly($18 AUD), this was quite a satisfying beast to whack together and paint. 

However, given that these objects aren't cheap, I really think Battlefront could make a bit more effort to make the pieces fit better, and in the case of the Ferdinand supply hatch covers (round) that actually fit the hatches (square, in the case of the commander)

. 

Anyway, grumpiness aside I'm quite looking forward to seeing this get pinned by Soviet artillery or run over a mine the first time I try to use it. 

'Vaguely friendly model shop', heh-heh, that made me smile. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big booster of my local hobby shops, but I have to admit that in my travels I have left some establishments wondering under what dank bridge did they manage to recruit the troglodytes 'working' the front desk. This being said it IS nice to see the product in the flesh, as it were.

Both the figures and the Ferdinand are excellent Alan. I'm quite intrigued by the basing of the infantry. Is that something recommended by the rules or a something of your own design?  It reminds me of the countless photos showing troops moving cautiously down the flanks of roadways.  Very evocative stuff. The camo on the Ferdinand is also well done. Shame about the hatch mixup - the beast must have rolled out of an Alsatian factory supplied with Schindler quality parts...

These jocks from the 15th Scottish and the Ferdinand will give Alan 80 points, enough for him to reach his second points target. Great job Alan!

From AlanD: 28mm Wild West - Citizens of 'Hurricane' (90 points)

Alan adds some more local colour to his Western town of 'Hurricane'.

From Alan:

Hurricane is a diverse and inclusive little community on the edge of nowhere. Here are 18 new citizens, all with something to offer the town. All towns need some entertainment, and nothing says entertainment in the Old West more than a couple of beefy pugs beating the stuffing out of each other in the street. 

Well, nothing is more entertaining except maybe the town drunk shaking his leg to the sound of the fiddle. The undertaker looks on, sensing a customer in the offing.

There are still fortunes to be made prospecting in the hills...maybe. These three hopefuls heading in to town for supplies still think so. Or maybe they are so far gone with hard work and sun that they just can't face the truth that their dreams are ending in a hole scratched out of the desert stone.

Someone has to keep the peace, and when the law turns its head away it falls to the citizens. These three have tooled up, sensing trouble.

The West is changing, and the railroad is bringing new wealth and opportunity. These three have just arrived from back East, with powerful thirsts and eyes for the main chance.

And meanwhile the wheels of the town keep turning, whether it is the railroad man, the constable keeping the peace, or the barman at Miss Lily's, who has seen it all before.

All figures are from Foundry, except for the tooled up citizens from Great Escape.

Excellent stuff Alan. I'm really enjoying watching 'Hurricane' come to life over these past few months. My favourites from this group are the shifty Eastern Speculators and the stoic Barman - such great characters.

These featured 'Huricanites' will give Alan 90 points to add to his total.

From AlanD: 28mm Dark Age Arthur & Hun Date Night (120 points)

From Alan:

I am very fond of the Westwind Arthurian range, and finally got around to painting up their Arthur figure, but found a rearing horse from Black Tree Design to mount him on for extra heroic impact. The bloke with the horn is also from Westwind. As always the shields are hand painted. I can't bring myself to use decals.

Here also is my latest batch of ten 28mm Huns, mainly consisting of a group of noble cavalry. I gave a couple of them Roman tunics, which may have been looted from somewhere, or possibly suggest that the wearers once served as mercenaries for Rome. 

We also have a figure that I find very poignant of a Hun with a clearly terrified captive woman. This figure narrowly missed out on being sent in for the casualty bonus round.

Nearly all figures are from Foundry, with one from Gripping Beast. He's the one riding the creature that has some resemblance to a horse.

Very nice work Alan. Those hand-painted shields for the Arthurian figures are superb (though I will never begrudge anyone their decals, least of all me). The Huns are suitably ferocious though I must agree with you that some look like their riding large dogs. 

These lads, both chivalrous and not, will give Alan 120 points, placing him nicely amongst the top 10. Lovely stuff Mr. D!

From AlanD: 15mm WWII Soviet Armour (82 points)

From Alan:

Flitting butterfly-like from project to project, I have cleared some 15mm Russian vehicles from the lead mountain this week. These are all destined for Battle Group Kursk (best game ever), with the exception of the T34/85, which suggests that I will soon start painting things for Battlegroup Fall of the Reich.

The models are a real mixed bag. First up, here are a couple of Katyushas from Zvezda. As with all the 15mm Zvezda kits, the models fit together beautifully. As they are intended as gaming pieces some compromises are made with detail, such as only having rockets on the top of the launching rails, but they are nice little kits nevertheless.

At the other end of the model engineering scale, next are is a radio command truck and a couple of Gaz jeeps from QRF. These are very rudimentary metal kits, with the radio van in particular suffering from lots of mould lines and a reluctance from any parts to actually fit properly. The jeep base with the two pointing chaps will act as a forward observer in BGK, the other is a command base for a motorised platoon. The figures are all from Plastic Soldier Company. I like these a lot, but my army is starting to suffer from officers and NCOs all feeling the need to point at things.

Next up, a SU76 and White Scout Car from Command Decision. These are very nice models, and I particularly like all the stowage on the Scout Car. In BGK this will act as a Recce unit, carrying a squad of 6 men. I've modelled them on a separate base, complete with a tree demolished by an artillery shell.

Finally, a resin knocked-out T34/85 from Peter Pig. Despite obvious compromises with detail to mould it in one piece, I really like this model, which will act as an objective marker.

Sadly, the supplier had run out of T34/76s, so this is destined for Fall of the Reich. Being enormously pedantic I probably can't bear to use it in a Kursk game.

Great stuff! I particularly like the ungainly Katyusha trucks, the Gaz jeeps and the grim knocked-out T34. 

Alan, you are a one-man ad campaign for this game! You've done such a great job being a booster that I'm ordering a copy today. Mission accomplished.

This selection of Soviet men and vehicles will provide Alan 82 points to add to his growing tally. Nice!

From AlanD: 28mm Huns (100 points)

Alan releases ten more marauding Huns for us to enjoy.

From Alan:

Here are another ten Huns from Wargames Foundry. After my last effort, and feedback from Curt and Paul, I tried to improve the appearance of the snowy bases.   

Perhaps some of you in the Northern hemisphere could pop your heads out the window and tell me what you think? I couldn't get in touch with Miss Smilla.

Ooh! These are tasty! I'm seriously jealous as I've always wanted to do a Hunnic army and these are so well done. I like the ice/slush with the turf peeking through. As a suggestion I'd say that the grass should be tones of yellow/brown as it would be largely dead during the winter season. 

Love the Smilla reference (great novel)!

These ten Huns will give Alan 100 points. Very nice indeed.

From AlanD: 15mm WWII German 'Stuka zu Fuss' Self-Propelled rocket Projectors (16 points)

Alan sprints for his 500 point target with these two German self-propelled rocket projectors.

From Alan:

So, here is a brace of Sdkfz 251/1 halftracks, with Wurfrahmen 40 rocket launchers. The models are resin from Forged in Battle, and quite nice they are, with lots of clutter to make them look lived in. 

The interior detail is fairly dodgy due to moulding the complex shape of the vehicle in one piece, but the sculptor has camouflaged this pretty well with clutter and some extra rockets in their launching frames inside the vehicles. 

As with all my 15mm WWII stuff so far, these are destined for use with Battlegroup Kursk. And let's face it, they look pretty mean.

Very nice work Alan. The detail on these models looks a bit soft but, as you say, the interior detail is nice and you've really done a wonderful job, working to their strengths. 

These two vehicles along with their crew will give Alan 16 points, just enough for him to seize the win in the 500 point side-challenge between him, PaulJ and JamesL. Congratulations and Well Done!

From AlanD: 15mm WWII German Anti-Tank Guns (20 points)

From Alan:

Here are a couple of 15mm PaK 38s from Forged in Battle. These will help to boost the anti tank capability of my Panzergrenadiers in Battle Group Kursk, so as well as gaining me a few extra points against Paul, they should also contribute to some of his burning tanks in our next game.

You may notice that the barrel of one of the guns is a bit wonky. This gun is cursed. I think I dropped in eight times while painting the damn thing, and at least four of these accidents involved the barrel bending or breaking off, or one or more of the crew figures coming off the base. Hopefully it will perform better in battle.

Alan, I think you'll be proved right, that borked gun will probably be a veritable 88 on the table. (And in that Paul will be hard pressed not to pick it up and finish the job you failed to do while painting it!)

These two guns with their crews will give Alan 20 points as he draws ever nearer to his 500 point goal. Great work!

From AlanD: Challenge Desperado 'Alias' (30 points)

Alan sends in his amazingly creative Challenge Desperado.

From Alan:

When Curt announced that the entrance fee for the competition was to be a figure inspired by a Sam Peckinpah film, I knew I had to have a go at modelling Bob Dylan in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Dylan plays the role of the enigmatic Alias in the film. I say 'plays the role', but essentially Dylan just wanders around from scene to scene, uttering the occasional gnomic observation. However, I am such an inveterate Dylan fan that I choose to overlook the fact that he can't act for crap in the film. I blame poor direction.

The scene I chose to reference occurs when Pat Garrett encounters three of The Kid's sidekicks (including Alias) in a truly grotty saloon/store in some fly-bitten armpit of a town. To keep him out of the way while he intimidates his two friends, Garrett tells Alias to go over to a shelf in the store and read off the labels from the 'airtights' (ie cans). So the scene ends up being quite funny, Garrett having a tense conversation, while in the background we hear Dylan intoning 'beans...spinach...ahh Lima?... tomatoes...spinach and beans...' and so on.

To evoke the scene I used a bookcase from 4-Ground, stocked with sacks and cans made from greenstuff and bits of bamboo skewer. The figure of Alias was based on a desperado from Artizan designs. To try to make him resemble Dylan a bit more, I repositioned his head and used greenstuff to fatten his face a bit, give him more curly hair, give him an upturned collar and have him holding a can of beans, rather than the revolver of the original figure. Alias wears glasses in the scene, which I tried to give the suggestion of with a painted frame.

Anyway, I certainly didn't do a good job of his face, but I'm pleased with it nevertheless. Hope you like it, Curt!

Whoa, this is amazing work Alan. I love how esoteric and creative this vignette is, and your execution of it has been flawless. The modifications to the figure are excellent and I really like how he is positioned away from the viewer which, in turn, beacons your interest even more. 

This is all quite funny as I actually despise Bob Dylan and distinctly remember seeing this film in my 20s and thinking, 'well, cheer up Curt, maybe he'll get shot in the movie...' Now here I am, delighted and chomping at the bit to have him in my figure cabinet! 

'Alias' will give Alan 30 points, including a few extra for the overall realization of this great vignette. Thanks so much Alan!