Clever Hans - Part 12 (An Army Re-Org for 3rd Edition Bolt Action)

During the holidays I was able to meet up with a Bolt Action gaming pal, Stephen, gift him my NIB WW2 French minis (Cos I will never have time to work on a 5th army) as I knew he needed an Early War army option and it turned out he'd just gained a new Char-B tank kit - so job done. In turn, he handed over a few sprues of Warlord Games Winter Germans that I have decided to fill out my Bolt Action German force so that they'll be usable for 3rd edition events and tournaments. 

For those uninitiated or ignorant to the changes in this current edition, the accepted "standard points value for a game of Bolt Action is now 1250. My previous German collection could meet that, but would not be very much fun or all that competitive to play, so changes had to be made. Below is a Draxian Paint Chart like the one I have maintained for my WW2 Greeks (See previous posts on that project). 

To that end, I've added and put primer to the Sd.kfz 10/4's (Etsy 3D prints) and glued some of the new Winter plastic Germans together to represent the Rifle Officer's 4x Adjutants. 

3x Platoons - Mandatory Rifle platoon: Officer with 4x Adjutants armed with SMG's, 2x Squads of Veteran Heer Grenadiers, 1x Squad of Volks Grenadiers and a small 7-man Squad of Waffen SS with their Sd.kfz 251/1 Half-Track transport; Artillery Platoon of lone Officer and a pair of Flak 88's; Armoured Platoon containing a pair of Sd.kfz 10/4's sporting 2cm Light Autocannons each. I call this force my late war Holding Kompany and it's supposed to represent the type of ad-hoc Kampfgruppe the Germans might have thrown together on the Eastern Front to try to push back the Soviets during the Winter of 1944.

These four will represent the adjutants for the Officer's squad. Gritty looking blokes with SMG's and no helmets like the standard Grenadiers.

Lots of random gear added to their rear sides so they'll stand out more-so from the Grenadier squad that'll be made from the same set. 

This pair were the last two body-sculpts from the sprue (6-to-a-sprue). The fellow on the left will be an extra crewman for one of the Flak 88 guns and the yelling chap on the right will end up as a spare adjutant should I need one for bigger points games.

Again, with more gear on his rear, including some mittens! 

Per usual, these will see basing and paint as time allows, but I'm glad to have had a little time this weekend to get any hobby done at all, so score!

Be well and safe out there,

- Dai

It's All Greek to Me! (Part 3 - Bren Carriers done!)

 

As described in my previous post, I was indeed fortunate enough to get time to myself free from family responsibility this weekend and so I managed to get on with some more hobby.

 

The result? A pair of Bren Carriers for my Greek force painted up and ready for a little weathering, that will be done once all the vehicles in the force are done.

 

With their big/little brother, the FT-17. 

Prior to the Italian invasion of Greece in 1940, the Greek government seeing the crumbling political situation in the Balkans with Italy on their doorstep after taking over Albania petitioned many countries for arms and armour to prepare for a possible invasion. The UK promised to send over a large amount of tanks and munitions, but only came through (For many reasons, lack of time being one of the main ones along with having to supply their conflict in North Africa.) with a limited supply of extremely light pieces, including the excellent Bren Carrier. (I intend to add a Vickers mkVI light tank to this collection at a later date.)

 

That’s a brief history on these things. I found these 3D-printed models for a very reasonable price on Etsy. They came crew-less and “Bren-gun-less” though so I cut up some spare Soviet infantry as driver and gunner (Soviet helmets are close enough in style to Greek ones imo) and added the pintle mounted Bren-guns using a paperclip and metal casted gun by The Assault Group. (Looking at the models now, I realise I could have added a little stowage too – maybe something I’ll attempt at a later date.)

 

Like the FT-17, I went with a straight forward “green” scheme as that is likely the one they received them in upon delivery. I found this reference image online (The ONLY one I found) for markings, etc – simple stuff. Used the designation number in the pic on one and then a made up one on the second. Free hand is wobbly as usual, I think that’s more due to the expected degeneration of my eyesight (Darn you old age). LOL

You might notice that these two carrier models don't match! Thats because I didn't realise that the "great deal" I found was for a mk1 carrier and a mk2, not two mk1's as would have been delivered to Greece. No matter. They basically do the same thing. 

I'm pretty happy with how they came out and with these two done, I'm able to get on with the final vehicle in my planned Greek army - a captured Italian CV33 tankette. Although the following pic doesn't show it (As I took it prior to getting some paint on) there actually has been some paint applied, along with a wash. No idea when I'll get more time for hobby what with holidays impending though. 

Such a tiny tank, but so cool for it!

And with the Carriers done my Draxian Painting Chart gets a little more green! Encouraging stuff. 

No idea when the next update will be, or if that will be before the end of year. Regardless, I hope all reading this are well out there!

- Dai

It's All Greek to Me! (Part 2 - FT-17 tank done! Almost.)

 A three-day weekend just past to commemorate Veteran's Day here in the US and Armistice Day in the UK. I like to raise a glass to the men in my family who served and fought for their countries:

• My Grandfather David, who joined the RAF during WW2, serving in North Africa and the Mediterranean. Then after the war as a Chaplain in her majesty's Royal Navy.
• My other Grandfather Wilson, who joined the US Army Air Corps prior to the US entering WW2 and then went on to serve in the Pacific.
• My God Father John, who also served in the British military during WW2 (Branch unknown) and who served as Principle Chaplain of her Majesty's Royal Navy after the war.
• And my Dad, who, in an effort to avoid the draft and being thrown into the awful meatgrinder that was the Vietnam conflict, enlisted in the US Navy instead. (And detested every minute of it.)

If not for the bravery of these men and others like them, our lives in here in the States and UK would not be what they are now. Sadly, not a one of the listed men here are still alive, but their memory remains and the stories I've been told over the years will hopefully be passed down to my own children so they and their sacrifices won't be forgotten.

Image stolen from some site or another.

On to the actual topic of this post. My wife was called away to spend time (Shopping or nail appointment - whatever women do with their free time!) with her sister who's birthday falls on November 11th so I had a few hours to myself. This provided me with a few hours for hobby which meant I managed to give all of the pieces an undercoat in Rustoleum Flat Grey primer and almost finish the FT-17 tank for my WW2 Greek force. ("Almost" because I plan to add a little mud effects at a later date, once all of the vehicles for this army are completed.)

I'm still having a little trouble actually finding any evidence online that the Royal Hellenic army even using this model of tank during WW2, but the official Warlord army lists have them as an option so I went with it, if only because it is a cool looking model and it's in-game rules make it the cheapest Medium Machinegun option out there.

There is very little in the way of pictures or references for vehicle markings for WW2 Greek armour. They had so few vehicles in general prior to the Italian invasion (Mainly Bren Carriers and a smattering of Vickers Mk vi tanks.) and captured a number of Italian tankettes during the conflict, but it's tricky to find many clear images online. So I went for a simple Hellenic Royal cross on the hulls, horribly hand painted, and I can add other markings later on as I find evidence.

For hull colour I queried the appropriate colour from a professor of Balkan history. He too said there wasn't much out there but that they'd likely be in the same colour they were provided in, or just plain dark green. (In this case, Vallejo's "Brown Violet".)

In-game, this little lumbering thing is pretty lightly armoured, incredibly slow and suffers from a rule whereby an order test has to be taken if one wishes to both move AND shoot in a turn! Sounds awful, but also fun!

With this done, my path to "Fully Painted" on this project is begun! (Though there is a LOT left to get on with. First steps first though...) I've been fortunate enough to be told I am to have another free Saturday this weekend (Hoorah!) whilst my wife is off at a craft faire with her grandmother so I hope to have the two Bren Carriers done and perhaps something else if time allows.

For any who is keeping track, here's the Draxian Painting chart now updated to show all parts of this army now primed, the FT-17 painted and "Painting in Progress" for the Bren Carriers.

No red boxes - this is a good thing! :) (I should probably include the key to this chart in the next stallment.)

Hope all are well out there and I should have another post up next Monday!

It's All Greek to Me! (Part 1 - Force composition)

Found this cool art online to be good reference for Greek uniforms. No idea who the artist is though.

For my 400th post I thought I'd preview my main project (That admittedly should have begun earlier this year, but life happened.) that I plan to work on. In February the local Bolt Action Facebook group plans to hold a small tourney and I am hoping to be able to attend, and when I do, I want to be able to bring a new army to play with!

And so "Greeks?" you might ask. Why yes, WW2 1940-41 Greeks are going to be my next Bolt Action project and here are the main reasons:

1. Firstly, I wanted to have and be able to play an army that represented a minor nation and something that is rarely seen on the tabletops (Mainly due to their army lists and national rules being considered pretty awful). I also wanted a force from the Early years of WW2. (My Soviets represent 1944-45 and my Canadians Mid War 1942 so a 1940-1941 era force seemed appropriate.)

2. My grandmother was Greek and suffered the brutal Nazi occupation of her home country during the war. By researching and collecting together this force I felt I was connecting to her memory and my own of the stories she would tell me of her experiences during those years. At least in a small way. 

3. My Bolt Action gaming pal, Densmol, decided he too wanted to stray from his primary faction (Germans) and so chose Italians(!). So what better adversary than a bunch of Retsina and Ouzo drinking, heavily moustachio'd mountain fighters to face them!? *Who also historically kicked them back into Albania! (To date, Densmol has yet to confirm which part of the war he's going to paint his Italians up for though.) 

4. As mentioned in my brief year review post for 2022, I had found on Facebook a digital sculptor who's sculpts were simply sublime. Studio Historia actually work out of Greece and their main creators are passionate about their source material, so I felt that their 3D printed sculpts would be some of the best out there and, once they arrived, I was not disappointed. Add in some lovely metal Great Escape Games "Evzones" (Tough Greek mountain troops) and some 3rd party 3D printed vehicles I found on Etsy and I had an army for a relatively affordable financial investment.

The make up of the basic 1000 point force is as follows (All are rated as "Regulars", for those who know Bolt Action.):

KEY: Red = Unassembled, Orange = Assembled and Primed, Yellow = Painting in Progress & Green = Completed.

This is the Draxian organizational painting chart/excel sheet I'll be using and updating as this project progresses until it's all "fully painted green" in the many posts to come. 

Here are pics of the unpainted mini's glued to their bases, ready for primer so you can get an idea of just how nice these 3d printed minis are. I've become more and more impressed with the quality of 3D printed miniatures in resin as the tech just gets better and better and can see me purchasing more in the future:

2nd Lieutenant #1 & Adjutant (An Adjutant sounding a bugle!? Sign me up!)

Regular Infantry Squad #1 (11-man squad with Rifles, 1x LMG & 1x VB Launcher. The resin fellow front-right will get a flagpole in his left hand.)

 

Regular Infantry Squad #2 (11-man squad with Rifles, 1x LMG & 1x VB Launcher)

Medium Mortar Team (There is another crew member, but I left him out as Bolt Action only calls for 3 crew to a mortar. With Spotter - Not pictured)

Sniper Team (What it says on the tin.)

Anti-Tank Rifle Team (Although the Greeks had a few Boys AT rifles supplied by the Brits, they were few and far between and I don't think they even had much ammo for them, so the Greek troops procured Italian Solothern AT Rifles when they were able to liberate them. The base was a freebie I got from an Etsy 3D print order. I've also since added basing texture to match the rest of the force. )

Medium Howitzer (An old Schneider 85mm artillery piece from the Interwar period. There are far too many crew on this gun per the Bolt Action rules, but the whole scene just looked too darn cool to leave out anyone. Also with Spotter - not pictured)

L3/35 Tankette (Captured from the Italians. This little terror takes up the Armoured Car slot in the list.) 

Renault FT-17 Tank (Still researching IF the Greeks actually had these. So far, online evidence says "no", but the Bolt Action list includes the option so until that changes I'll keep this ugly little thing in. Absolutely lovely 3D print found on Etsy. ) 

2nd Lieutenant #2 & Adjutant (Who is actually an Orthodox Priest - flippin love this sculpt! Both Great Escape Games minis.)

Oof! That’s an awful mold line on the officer’s helmet! 

Evzones Mountain Brigade Squad #1 (5x Rifles and all Tough Fighters. Metal minis by Great Escape Games)

Evzones Mountain Brigade Squad #2 (5x Rifles and all Tough Fighters. Also Metal minis by Great Escape Games)

Mk 1 Bren Carrier #1 (Another 3D printed model found on Etsy. Had to add crew made from spare Soviet bits ((Soviet helmets are close enough to Greek I feel.)) and a pintle-mounted Bren Gun made up from a paper clip and loose Bren gun produced by The Assault Group in the UK.)

Mk 1 Bren Carrier #2 (As above but this one I think is actually a Mk 2? I don't care though, it'll do as far as I'm concerned.)

*The Bren Carriers have actually had painting started so I need to change the painting chart to reflect this, but I’ll do that next post.

Playing-wise, this force should be pretty balanced. The small Evzones squads, mounted in their Bren Carriers will be reactionary options to come in on outflank and a hammer to slam down if they can get in the charge. Two full sized infantry squads can be used for objective holding but also large enough to endure a little punishment if they have to hoof it across the battlefield or open fire on a target. Everything else is pretty much in support of these four infantry squads. This army isn't going to win many games, especially against armies that have tough armour, but Bolt Action is an infantry game and if I can defeat my opponent's infantry, then I should have free reign to take objectives. At least that's the theory.

So there you go, my main project for the remainder of 2023 and beginning of 2024. Hope I can get all this completed by the beginning of February! *gulp* 

- Dai

Bolt Action East Front Winter 1944

 This weekend saw the wife and I make our way to Vacaville where I met up with my friend Densmol at Forgotten Path Games for a rare face-to-face game of Bolt Action whilst our wives went off and did "wife stuff". 

I brought my Winter mat and terrain (Though stupidly forgot half of it so the table looked a little bare!) and both fully painted forces for the game, Densmol playing the desperate Germans and I the invading Soviets. 

We played "The Ivans are coming" scenario from the Road to Berlin campaign book which was fun - my Soviets defending a road crossing and Densmol's Germans trying to wrest control from the commies. All went well with some rules look-ups due to neither of us having played for almost 2 years (!!!) aside from completely forgetting to apply the effects of "Snow" the whole game through. (Insert eyeroll here)

Whilst I won't be attempting to put in a turn-by-turn account, here are some photo's of the game. The mdf fencing terrain is brand new and got it's first run out that day; it looked great and I already have a second set ready to assemble and paint/weather on the hobby setup.

The German Officer and a Squad of Grenadiers approach the crossing cautiously out of the village outskirts.

Hetzer tank killer in the distance, killed a tank...

... which in this instance happens to be my Soviet T34/85.

Then it went on to kill my poor wee BA64 Armoured car. 

First casualty of the game was Densmol's officer and Adjutant. The T34/85 gunned them down mercilessly.

Here's a late game image showing the Soviets swarming the objective. At this point, the Germans only had a handful of fanatical SS troops alive and the Hetzer. Not enough to hold back the Commie tide.

Earlier in the game. I have bases to prep for the tree's and about 20 coniferous trees to go in them too. That table was very bare.

Soviet reinforcements to come on in the foreground. Germans toward the back of the table.

A Guards squad hunkers down behind these woods, waiting for the optimal moment to dash up and add their fire support.

On the left a second Guards squad patiently wait behind a copse of trees whilst a small SMG-toting squad of inexperienced troops are forced to leap from their burning transport after a very unliekly shot from the German Panzerschreck team blows it up!

The late game mad-dash.

That GAZ jeep (on fire) had the Soviet Flamethrower team mounted up inside. Flambe'd flamethrower! Is what they get for missing twice in a row earlier ingame. 

The Hetzer was Densmol's MVP. It blew up 3 out of my 4 vehicles and put pins on my ZIS-3 artillery gun. 

The GAZ jeep right after the Hetzer shot it with yet another amazing dice roll by Densmol. Guards squad looks on horrified.

Hard to make out, but in the top left corner of this pic is an anti-tank-rifle team that took a rather improbable shot at the above German Half-track and blew it up, killing the German Flame Thrower team inside and causing a Volksgrenadier squad that was also the passenger to hop out!

Earlier in the game, German Panzerschreck team, SS Vet's and a Medic team carefully make their way to the objective.

And that's it. Was great to play my first game in a long time and against Densmol too who I hadn't seen for a game in yonks. Playing again has gotten me motivated to get a second set of fences put together and also paint minis! 

Thanks for getting to the end of this post!

- Dai

A Frosty Goose-Step (WW2 Late War Germans on parade)

 As promised in a previous post, here is a small parade post of my fully painted WW2 Winter Germans force. I do have more to add to them, but I think I'll leave those pieces for when the mood takes. I think all of these sculpts are by Warlord Games from their Bolt Action range (Including the plastic half-track and resin Hetzer tank). Lots of fun details and dynamism to them which made them fun to paint.

To start off a full shot of the whole force. The organisation of this collection is per the basic German Reinforced Platoon Bolt Action army list on Easy Army dot com. (Shame about the background, but they are stored in a barn so "barn-background" is what you get.)

When I took this and checked the pic on my phone it looked fine! O well. Daylights gone now and all these guys are packed away now.

Lieutenant and Adjutant. 

Waffen-SS Squad and their Half-track ride.

Heer Grenadier Squad.

Volks Grenadier Squad.

Heer Medic.

Flame Thrower Team.

Panzerschreck Team.

Hetzer tank hunter.

Those observant enough may well notice the absence of this tank from the initial group shot. We’ll the blighter was hiding deeper in one of my storage boxes than I had anticipated and I had thought it had gotten lost somehow! But it turned up so I had to get a pic in for completions sake. 

And a bonus Forward Artillery Observer.

And that's it! As mentioned above, there are more pieces in my unpainted mountain to add to these: 

Panzer iv H tank

Sniper Team

Heer Grenadiers in Winter Greatcoats

The remainder of the Waffen-SS squad

Hope you enjoyed seeing these as much as I found enjoyment knowing that this project could be called "done" AND that I can now host a fully painted Winter themed game of Bolt Action at home once time allows - something to post on in a later publication.

Now back to finishing that last section of Canadians before I can get in with this year’s new army.

Cheers - Dai