Entrry #3 to AHPCX: SAS Jungle Operators and a Huey

Hi All!

Today Sarah's Balloon drops me onto Bromley's Butte to challenge its mysteries. 

Dave asks us for: 'An individual figure or squad of tactical stealth troopers.' With this in mind, I present a team of SAS operators (or perhaps private military contractors), kitted out for jungle ops, deploying from an unmarked Huey chopper.

The models are from Spectre Miniatures' SAS range. I'm a big fan of Spectre's stuff and have found myself snapping up almost everything they have to offer. It's a bit silly as, really, how many figures do you need for a modern skirmish-based game? Well, apparently loads if you look at my lead pile! It's a little out of control. 

To be honest I have sort of a love-hate relationship with the modern gaming genre in general. I find that while I really enjoy the figures, gear and kit, I find that to 'do' the period justice, the settings and scenarios need to go beyond the typical 'lets go flatten another Middle Eastern compound' mindset. So when I'm thinking of modern-era gaming I'm often more interested in scenarios that are more nuanced, really gritty and more often than not, morally opaque. 

As an example: The SAS had a presence in Columbia beginning in the late 80s and extending to around 2010, ostensibly to train government forces in fighting the local drug cartels. Nonetheless, there are many analysts who would argue that their deployment was more to protect and project British corporate interests than anything else. In fact it's probably no coincidence that a significant portion of the private security detail at British Petroleum's site in Casanare were ex-SAS members. These personnel were also involved in training Columbian police units - the same units often associated with death squads targeting Columbian civilian leaders, academics and government protestors.  As I say, morally opaque and perhaps an interesting way to turn the accepted roles of Good Guys / Bad Guys on its head. 

Anyway, enough on the civics lesson and back to the minis. I painted these guys using the handy-dandy digital camo tutorial on the Spectre website - a great resource for those like me who have little experience with painting this kind of stuff. To simulate the spooky facepaint you often see these guys sporting, I painted most of their faces in camo as well.

The Huey began as a diecast model that I picked up on ebay a while ago. I remember it being quite inexpensive, probably due to it being in the cherry red livery of the Texaco Company (perhaps a fitting provenance considering how it's being featured in this post). 

The 'red-goes-faster' paintjob was easily fixed with a quick blast of primer and sprayed olive green and dirtied up a bit. It's a little rough around the edges, but I think it's quite serviceable for the tabletop. 

My lame attempt at a rotor wash using a coffee can glued over with spraypainted pillow ticking. Oh well, you get the idea... 

Thanks for dropping in. I hope everyone is recovering from the hustle and bustle of the 25th and is preparing for the upcoming New Years celebrations!

-Curt

British Exploring Officer, Iberian Peninsula, 1810

Last week I picked up David Brown's 'General d' Armee' rules and realized that I haven't painted a Napoleonic figure (much less a unit) in an age. This is amazing as when I started this blog years ago that's ALL I painted. It's funny how things go in cycles.

So today's update is a British Exploring Officer serving in the Peninsula, circa 1810. 

These chaps composed a group of intelligence officers that served Wellington during the Peninsular Wars as his 'Peninsula Corps of Guides'. Their primary function was to survey the countryside and make modern maps for strategic planning, but increasingly they were used to gather intelligence on French plans and movements.

The Exploring Officers refused to be considered as spies and so conducted their work behind enemy lines wearing their regimental uniforms. They relied heavily on local partisans for local knowledge, guidance and support. Since they were usually excellent horsemen, mounted on fast thoroughbreds, they stood a good chance of evading French patrols using speed and evasion.

Colquhoun Grant (great name btw) was perhaps the most famous of Wellington's Exploring Officers. He provided sterling service throughout the wars and had many harrowing adventures in French territory (even posing as an American officer in Paris!). Wellington held him in trust so much that during the Waterloo campaign he essentially relied on Grant's reports on French movements to the exclusion of all other intelligence (which, as we know, almost led to disaster).

This figure is from Brigade Games, sculpted by Paul Hicks. I quite like the rider, with his wide brimmed sun hat and jaunty pose, but the mount provided was a little stiff and uninspiring. So I used a damaged horse I had from a spare Riders of Rohan boxed set (Thanks Byron!), feeling that it had a more animated pose. I had to shave off a few bits of offending tack and horse armour and then 'greenstuffed' a more period-specific saddle blanket, blanket roll and a sporty forelock to his noble head. The other issue with the poor brute was that it had one hoof missing - so I sunk the 'abbreviated' leg into a base of greenstuff, affixed both to the base and then masked the mess with some strategically placed groundwork. 

Done!

Have a great week everybody!

My Tribute to Miles - Jon Bullock, Able Seaman

This Tribute figure is for the Challenge's resident arch-mage statistician, spreadsheet guru and top-of-the-heap brushmeister, Mr. Miles Reidy. 

Miles has been an enthusiastic participant of the Challenge since it's second incarnation, back when I only accepted historical submissions (can you imagine the cheek!). On top of being one of the most prolific painters I know, Miles is also incredibly generous both with his time and encouragement to others. Being a 'financial services professional' he is also a shameless enabler.  I believe it was last year that he sent me several pounds of espresso to tide me through the Challenge. I still have some residual muscle twitch from that...

For Miles I've painted this rather pugnacious Napoleonic British seamen who is in the midst of boarding an enemy vessel. I've named him Jonathan Bullock, Able Seaman. He's seen here in close action, armed with cutlass, pistol butt and 5-days growth of stubble. 

In an attempt to fit in with the rest of Miles' collection,  I've clipped away his metal base and mounted him on a plain MDF base, which I simply scored with a hobby knife to resemble a ship's deck.

Thanks so much again Miles! Your work was instrumental in ensuring our record-keeping was in fighting trim (despite my best efforts to muddle it up with outlier entries).  Also, congratulations on making it to the top of the points heap this year - that was no small achievement considering your worthy compatriots. 

I hope Jon Bullock finds a good home clearing the deck on the USS Wasp. ;)

Entry #2 to the AHPC: 28mm Napoleonic British Foot Artillery Officers

Just finished this stand of figures yesterday. Two 28mm British artillery officers from Perry Miniatures. If you want, you can read my engrossing post about them (and see a few more slightly out-of-focus pics) over at the Challenge blog.

If you don't, it will hurt my feelings terribly and make you feel, I'm sure, very, very guilty.

Unless of course you've already seen the original post then naturally you can leave here with a clear conscience knowing my toy soldier ego has been properly stroked. 

I'm sure that made you feel better, right? Well, I certainly do. ;0)


Next: Hopefully something from the Renaissance

20mm WWII Canadian Infantry from AB Miniatures - The Battle for Ortona, 1943 (Part I)

About a year ago I was rummaging around my storage shed and came across a collection of 20mm WWII figures that I had originally painted-up for use with Arty Conliffe's Crossfire (a very fine and innovative set of rules btw). This group of figures primarily composed of old, but quite good SHQ, Britannia and FAA models. This discovery began me thinking of how I could make use of these figures for future gaming. I decided that I could conscript my 15mm Flames of War collection (a set of rules I'm not especially fond of) for use with Crossfire and then I could use these venerable 20mm figures for skirmish gaming (Chain of Command, Bolt Action, etc). As I sorted through the lot I discovered that  I had scads of German Fallshirmjaegers (from a previous Crete scenario), but I needed some more Commonwealth figures to serve as opponents. 

So, I began snooping around the web and came across Anthony Barton's (of AB Miniatures) superb 20mm WWII range. So credit card was duly unsheathed and an order placed. Nonetheless, as these things frequently go, by the time the figures arrived I had abstractedly wandered off to another project (I know, how typical) so the castings were studiously unpacked, briefly admired and then stored away awaiting further inspiration.

Canadian armour moving through Ortona by Charles Comfort

The spark came a few weeks ago when I began reading about the 1943 battle of Ortona which occurred during the Italian campaign. In the larger scheme of things this battle was largely a sideshow, dwarfed by the campaigns in the Eastern Front and overshadowed by the impending landings in Normandy, but to many in Canada Ortona is regarded as our own 'little Stalingrad' due to its brutal and unrelenting house-to-house combat.

'Reinforcements Moving up in the Ortona Salient' by Lawren Philips Harris

As a brief background, Ortona is a port town situated on the Adriatic coast of Italy, relatively close to Rome along a east-west axis. In 1943, with the Allies lines of supply stretched to the extreme, Ortona was regarded as strategically important as it possessed one of the few ports which could accommodate deep-draught shipping. 

For this reason Montgomery wanted it taken and so General Christopher Vokes, commander of the Canadian 1st Infantry Division, ordered his men to batter their way into the town through a series costly frontal assaults along its approaches. Vokes wasn't necessarily a bad commander, but he really wasn't very good either. Monty regarded him as 'a plain cook' and I think that assessment is fairly accurate. So instead of bypassing the town and threatening to pocket the Fallshirmjaegers garrisoning it, Vokes decided to take Ortona by direct assault. 

Map of Ortona showing the path of the Canadian assaults.

The Germans had positioned themselves very well, establishing interlinking fields of fire for effective ambushes, and had littered the advance with mines and boobytraps. The Canadians found that attacking over the rubble-heaped streets while under enemy fire was extremely gruelling and so the casualty toll rose.  The Canadians realized that they had to develop other means in order to grind ahead or the attack would stall completely. One notable trick they came up with was the tactic of 'mouse-holing' (also used in the fighting at Stalingrad). This involved the Canadians blowing a hole through the adjoining walls between upper floors and then systematically working their way down. While this tactic was effective in keeping the men out of the fire-swept streets, the process was fraught with danger as the advance from room-to-room often involved ferocious close-quarters combat.

Over eight days, from December 20th to the 28th, the Canadians of the 2nd Brigade forced the German paratroopers out of the town, but at a cost of nearly 2400 in dead and wounded. The Moro River campaign (of which Ortona was a part) inflicted almost a quarter of all casualties suffered by the Canadians during the entire Italian campaign. After reading the accounts of the campaign one can appreciate why the term 'D-Day Dodgers' deeply rankled with the men fighting up the Italian peninsula.

I painted these figures to represent men from the Loyal Edmonton Regiment and the Saskatoon Light Infantry which were two of the four infantry battalions which were committed to the battle (the other two units were the Seaforth Highlanders and the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry). 

I was struck by the photos of the incredible amount of pale/white rubble in Ortona so I tried to replicate the same in my groundwork, with lots of shattered masonry, dust and debris scattered about.

I've pretty much completed a full platoon, with various supports, but I thought I'd show them over two or three blog posts so the sculpts can stand on their own and not be lost within a mass of figures. 

These castings were a real pleasure to work on and I hope you enjoyed looking them over. 

Next: To mix things up, some Post Apocalyptic Raiders!

The First VCs of The Great War: Lieutenant Maurice Dease and Private Frank Godley, 23rd August 1914

One hundred years ago today, on August 23rd 1914, the 4th battalion, Royal Fusiliers were ordered to defend the Nimy bridges, which were only a few kilometers from the main British force at Mons.

By 10:00 that morning the British positions around the bridges came under heavy German artillery fire which was then followed by direct assault by the 84th Infantry Regiment. 

In answer, the Royal Fusiliers caused heavy casualties amongst the Germans, who initially advanced in tightly-packed formations. Being shocked by the rapid fire of the Fusiliers, the Germans soon abandoned this costly tactic and began to advance in open order. As more German troops were thrown into the attack, the situation for the Royal Fusiliers became perilous in the extreme. Yet to withdraw while still in contact with the enemy would expose them to close-range enemy fire. Therefore it was vital that the battalion's machineguns, now under the command of Lieutenant Maurice Dease, hold back the Germans long enough for the rest of the men to withdraw.

Lieutenant Maurice Dease, the first posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross of the Great War.

By this time, however, virtually all the men of Dease's two sections had either been killed or wounded. So the young Lieutenant, along with Private Sidney Godley, took over a gun and kept the Germans at bay. Having been wounded several times, Lieutenant Dease was taken back to the dressing station where he later died of his wounds.

Dease and Godley depicted at the railway bridge near Nimy. Painting by David Rowlands

Meanwhile, Private Godley, himself wounded by numerous shell fragments and a bullet wound to the head, maintained fire from his machinegun. 

Sidney Godley, first Private soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross in World War One.

Godley continued to hold his position for two hours, allowing the rest of the British force to fall back safely. Once out of ammunition, Godley, dismantled his gun, threw it into the canal and attempted to crawl away. Weak from his wounds he was eventually captured by the advancing Germans.

A contemporary rendition of the defence of the bridge at Nimy.

For their actions that day, both Dease and Goldley were awarded the Victoria Cross, the first of the war. Godley was informed of his award by his German captors while being held at a prisoner of war camp near Berlin. He was formally awarded the decoration by King George V on February 15th, 1919.

Drawing inspiration from this event I painted up a 28mm early war British Vickers crew sculpted by the talented Paul Hicks, sold by  Musketeer Miniatures. I've gone with my usual greyscale treatment with this trio. A great set, with very clean castings and exhibiting excellent animation in all the sculpts. 

The Vickers Crew along with some infantry support.

Next up is a new indulgence from across the pond and something else for the Spanish Civil War...

From Burkhard: 28mm WWII British Tankers and Achilles Tank Destroyer (44 points)

From Burkhard:

First of all let me start with what I did not enter for this round. I had initially planned to enter a bunch of Sherman tanks for the vehicle theme round. When I started on these I decided that these would depict two troops from the Irish Guards in Market Garden livery. Unfortunately I had to find that while the inventory in my head said that I had the appropriate decals, I had not. Well one trip to Doms Decals and most of my problems had been solved except for the fact that the Guards painted the centre of their tactical markings (that is those diamonds, triangles, circles, and squares) in black and that no one did these in 1:48th or 1:56th scale. So I began looking for someone who would do me some custom decals, which I eventually did. They were shipped last week and while I was wainting for them, I started work on some Bauhaus Hussars for Warzone Resurrection. When the decals arrived on Monday these were done except for the weapons, gloves and basing. Seeing that time was a premium, I decided to do the tanks and if there was to be time finish them, too. Which I think proved to be a bad call. Tonight with just some 7 hours to on the Challenge (which is around midnight local) and after a day of painting, I find my eyes were going sore and I have to call it a day. Now what is missing? Well the tracks and dust on two troops of Shermans and as a result the Hussars, too. I guess I would have needed 3 more hours to finish the tanks and another two for the minis, but that did not happen. So here is the photo of shame:

What did I finish? Well the tankers for the Shermans (and some other tanks and armored cars) were painted in February so here they are (all Warlord Games):

They are still glossy since they were going to be matt varnished after mounting them into the tanks.

What else? Well before my eyes gave out, I at least managed to finish the Achilles Tank Destroyer (incidentally the only tank model I do not have crew figures for yet). It is a Tamiya 1:48th scale kit, that has been heavily converted using aftermarket packages. One to convert the gun breach assembly and the turret counterweights from the standard 3” M10 to the 17pdr.. another one to give me a brass and aluminum barrel for more detail and robustness and then there is the stowage from a third aftermarket kit. 

For those interested… I will finish the Shermans and Hussars over the next couple days. So if you want to see them they will be up on my blog www.dhcwargamesblog.wordpress.com over the next couple of days. And you can also see the further progress of my WWII British in coming weeks. Really hope Curt forgives me this shameless plug!

But alas, now it is time for famous last words. I really enjoyed this, my second Analogue Hobbies Challenge. As before the comrade and quality of entries has been great! While I found the theme rounds took a lot of my time and often put my other painting into disarray until I learned (after four rounds) to just work through all of them and enter them well in advance I loved them, especially since they allowed me to tackle some topics like ACW that I had not touched in ages. Given that I had even less time to paint than last year, I really like the fact that I actually got more points under my belt than last year (and that is without the 195 points group of shame I almost finished) and that I managed to succeed in one of my side challenges (congratulations to Tamsin for pulverizing us on the other one!!! ;-)). As always this has proven a great boost to my winter painting!

But I would like to applaud my fellow Challengers. The quality and sheer amount of minis painted has been impressive. But even more impressive has been the comradie. Thank you all for that and the nice comments you have left me! Really looking forward to the next installment!

But my special thanks goes out to Curt. I am always amazed at what he does here. For three long months he puts up with 60 loonies bombarding him with photos and text of painted minis to allow them to slave through their lead mountains. It takes a lot to keep sane through that! I think we should all appreciate this and give him a huge thanks.  Thanks for having me along!!!

Thank you for the kind words Burkhard - I wouldn't do this if it wasn't a pleasure. 

I think you're in good company as many of us felt the crunch going into these last few weeks. Nonetheless I think you've done marvelous work here. That Achilles TD is absolutely gorgeous. For sure the extra bits are great but it's your paintwork that really makes it sing. Fantastic.

This Tank Destroyer and the dozen tank commanders will give Burkhard 44 points. Well done!

From KevinS: 28mm WWI Early War British Infantry (100 points)

From Kevin:

Here's my last submission for the challenge: 20 Early War British infantry from Battle Honors.  Included in the series are a colour sergeant, an officer and a heavy machine gun team on the run. 

I started these (and others) on the first day of the painting challenge.  Today I finished them.  Something tells me my heart wasn't in them.  They have lively poses, but I have to admit the sculpting is not quite up to the standard of Great War Miniatures.  In any case here they are, ready for the tabletop.

I dunno Kevin, these guys look pretty nice to me.  I really like the officer blowing the whistle and gesturing with his walking stick - classic pose.

These twenty Old Contemptibles will give Kevin a very tidy 100 points. Well done and thank you.