Finished: WW3 Team Yankee Dutch project

Hi folks,

As mentioned in my last blog entry, I've finished all the units I had in the paint queue for my Team Yankee Dutch. As I swapped my only other painted army (my 10mm ACW) for other figures, this now becomes my only completed force!

These are 15mm Battlefront models (for the most part, with a couple of resin 3d prints from Butlers Printed Models). 

Well, completed at the moment. Time will tell whether I add any of the extras from the newest NATO Forces book. 

The finished project leaves me with a full Mechanised Infantry company, a Leopard 1 company, a Leopard 2 company, all the various support assets and a Recce company (which needs tanks from one of the other companies in order to be fielded). I've also added some earlier Dutch wheeled APCs, and some anti-tank jeeps. West Germany is represented by some air support and Roland Marders. 

It was mentioned by the guys when I was taking the photos at the end of the club games day in October (I have limited space now at home for pics like this) that there is a lot more varied tone to these models when seen in person than the photos of the finished models show. A mix of the lighting and the way that the weathering product I've used shows up on camera I think. 

I've now moved onto other bits and bobs - avoiding large planned projects for now in favour of clearing some low hanging fruit collection wise, and painting some of the odds and sods I have had outstanding for a while. More on those bits soon!

Finished: 10 and 12 Kompanies, III Battalion, SS Panzergrenadierregiment 26 - Kampfgruppe Wünsche (7 - 8 August 1944)

Hi folks,

This is a bit of a follow up post to this one from September of last year, when I started this current project. While I've been mumping to myself about taking 6 months to get this done, in hindsight my previous painting projects seem to take a similar amount of time. I really should learn how to airbrush. 

However, in the past six months I have gone from this plan:

To this:

To be fair, I did make some alterations as I went - namely dropping the 2IC vehicle (not needed in v4 FoW) and the Pioneer vehicles (being expanded into their own kompanie). I've also painted limbered, not deployed, versions of the Pak40. 

I also still have a substantial amount of SS infantry to paint - however with my current German infantry collections I can field Panzergrenadiers now I've vehicles for them. 

Lastly, I've some self-propelled artillery on the painting table currently, which were on the plan. But they don't form part of the Kompanies the project was for, so I've left them out of the photo!

Hopefully, it won't been too long before I can get some pictures of these in action!

Next painting project - 10 and 12 Kompanies, III Battalion, SS Panzergrenadierregiment 26 - Kampfgruppe Wünsche (7 - 8 August 1944)

Hi folks,

The last few weeks has been spent prepping and researching (a lot of researching) into my next major painting project. This will be one armoured infantry company (#10 company) alongside the heavy (support) company (#12 company). In addition, platoons from various other support elements within III Battalion, SS Panzergrenadierregiment 26 as well as the divisions artillery and support units. 

Once the infantry is painted, this force (less half-tracks) will also fill in for the dismounted motorised troops of SS Panzergrenadierregiment 25. Although I may have to add dismounted SS support units, such as mortars and infantry guns.

At the time of Operation Totalize, this battalion, less #9 Company, were part of Kampfgruppe Wünsche. 

III Battalion made up the only armoured infantry battalion in the Division at the time, with 4 companies mounted in sdkfz 251 half-tracks. I have no idea at the moment what the strength was of the unit at the time of Totalize, but I am willing to bet it was nowhere near full strength. Collection wise, better to have more which can go futher! The presence of half-tracks in this unit also explains why I decided to cover troops from a 2nd (different) Kampfgruppe. 

This Kampfgruppe also took part in the German counter attacks against the allied break-in on 8th August 1944, and included Tigers from Schwere Panzerabteilung 101, Panthers from I/12 SS Panzer Regiment and Panzer IVs from II/12 SS Panzer Regiments 8th company. 

My collection already includes 7th company Panzer IVs, and some Panthers marked up with partially hidden identification numbers. The Tigers are another future project. My existing models are for Kampfgruppe Waldermuller, who were supported by the dismounted troops of I/SS-Panzergrenadierregiment 25. 

My main focus for this project will be on the vehicles initially, and primarily on the standard half-tracks. I've found that in recent large games I've had to borrow these models from others in order to represent German units, so figured it was about time I painted my own. Unfortunately, this full unit (which I'm building to a rather unhistorical full strength), has a lot of vehicles. More when all the support elements are included. Around 40 vehicles in total. 

So far, I am working on the infantry carriers, command and HMG carriers (16 half-tracks in total). 

My current thinking is to do these in batches of 4 vehicles. Infantry I will worry about in the future! I've still to work out whether any of these should have additional weapons, such as 37mm A/T guns. 

A large part of my issue has been checking I have the required decals before I start, which led me to having serious issues establishing what the hull numbers should be. Some help on the Flames of War German Forces Facebook group gave me a starting point, in the form of images of this unit being inspected prior to D-Day. The visible hull numbers allowed me to determine the layout for the unit. Young David then came to my rescue with a graphic for another Panzer Divisions numbering system, which matched what I had found. I've been updating my painting plan with these numbers as I find them. 

I'd note here that I am aware the 12th SS tank units 'added five' to the hull numbers. However, I've no evidence that this was done by the Panzergrenadiers and the copy of the order I have seen refers only to Panzers. The images of these vehicles from May 1944 shows them with the numbers I've used in my plan. 

Note that yellow = WiP. 

I have had to guess hull numbers for some platoons, such as the Grilles (6 of which were delivered to the Division in July 1944). I've included flamethrower half-tracks, which some sources state were not present in Normandy - although I have read a Canadian account of being attacked by these vehicles while fighting 12th SS. I'm unsure of hull numbers for these currently. Also in this plan are 3 more Wespes, 3 Hummels and some Panzerpioniers (which may be upgraded to their own small company, although this may involve more halftracks). Three Pak40s and tow vehicles have been added, and I'm planning a full unit of six 8cm half-tracks (again, issues with sources here, the BF books say the unit had double the number in the normal OOB - so I may decal these as a mix of 3 different companies). 

For Flames of War fans, the plan was initially done for v3 using the Atlantik Wall book. However, I've made the decision to largely switch to v4 unit organisations (which drop HQ teams and vehicles for  support platoons), mainly due to wanting to save money and painting time on command vehicles and teams for support units. It was a hard decision, but easy to fix in the future if I need to, and easier on me in the short term. As an example of what this means, in v3 a battery of Wespes would have also required a Kubelwagon and OP team per platoon, and a HQ section with command and staff teams, truck and Kfz 15 field car (a total of 4 additions vehicles and 4 infantry teams). In v4, you only represent the six 'fighting' vehicles. 

All in all, this is a bigger project than my more recent allied ones - from a research, motivation and painting perspective. Painting German kit, especially camo'ed German kit, will take longer. There is a personal issue with making a start, due to some indecision paralysis. Then there is the foliage needed. The infantry is also harder work - while I have the nice older metal SS figures, they are also wearing camo. And don't get me started on storage space.

But you eat an elephant one bite at a time, so I'd best get started (but don't worry, I have a few random British vehicles and teams to paint as I go, just to mix things up a bit). 

Charity Project - For Joshua (blog 2)

Hi folks,

Having now moved into our new home and given some more thought on this project, and having had Joshua's cremation service yesterday, I wanted to do a blog post to update those who had very kindly offered to contribute.

For those who might not be aware, I posted here about the passing of my unborn son, Joshua, at the end of September. I felt that I should do something in order to try and raise some money for the maternity unit who had provided us so much support and the charity which had provided the memory box for us. A little further research would indicate that this project would aim to benefit the following two charities:

4Louis - a charity which supports families through miscarriage, stillbirth and loss.
North Tees and Hartlepool Together, NHS Charitable Trust - a charity working within the hospitals locally to improve the comfort of patients and to support NHS staff.

Obviously, the intention is that I do not financially or materially benefit from this project. My aim is to do something to help memorialise my lost little boy, and to make some money for charity.

The plan:

The plan is, with help from the community, to build two opposing 10mm fantasy armies. To then use these forces to hold games at a variety of UK wargames shows, then to potentially raffle the whole collection off with the proceeds going to the above charities. Hopefully, with the raffle idea tickets could also be sold as the game tours.

If enough units are contributed for there to be more than one opposing armies, the forces may be split into multiple opposing armies to be raffled. The aim is to maintain the prizes as fully fledged games, with two sides, play aids, etc.

The model stuff:

From some initial experiments done with 10mm Undead figures kindly provided to me free by Pendraken Miniatures, unit bases are planned to be 100mm by 50mm (standard base size for Warband, Pendraken's own rules). These bases give nice, chunky and busy looking units. For figures per base we will be trying to stick to default pack sizes:

- Formed Cavalry units will be around 12 figures, skirmish units (light scouting cavalry) or 'heavy' units (Rhino riding heavy cavalry) may be less that this (probably 6).

Early experiments with 12 undead cavalry on a 10cm by 50cm base

- Formed infantry units will be around 20 to 30 figures (the average pack size for most manufacturers). Skirmish units (Elven Rangers, etc) may be less that this (10 to 15).
- Artillery will generally be 2 or 3 warmachines per base, as well creatures such as giants. 'Smaller' large creatures, such as trolls or Ogres will be around 6 per base. Unusual war machines such as dwarven airships or gyrocopters will be on a case by case basis.

However, in the interests of high fantasy and good old character inclusion, I am planning on also using round bases for mini 'hero' dioramas. There would be 25mm rounds for low level hero's on foot or mounted (champions, wizards, adventurers, etc), while 'mighty heros' such as army leaders, adventuring bands of very large creatures (Dragons, etc) will be on 50mm rounds. These bases would ideally be little dioramas (so a general with a few guard and army standard, or a small group of adventurers together, etc).

Basing:

With basing units, I am going to suggest that anyone who contributes can elect to sent me unbased painted figures and I will base them. This saves people having to buy specific bases they might never need for anything else, and also helps keep a uniformity to basing style. It should also make postage easier!

I will try and come up with a standard basing scheme. At the moment the plan is for a mix of static grass and patches of bare earth with a scattering of stones and the usual small tufts.

I plan to do a little print out on the underside of each base, which some brief details about the painter, where the models were painted, details of the unit or the imagi-nation that they hail from or any other info the contributer wishes to include. This way even when the collection moves on the contribution is recorded.

The armies:

There will be two 'sided' planned. Undead/Orcs/Goblins/evil versus the forces of the free/living world. Please note that all painted units (or even unpainted units) will be happily accepted, but more baddies may be needed than good guys! While I would like to keep the core as the above 'evil' races, Dark Elves, evil humans, etc, will also be welcome. But don't let that stop you from contributing some good guys as well!

For the baddies, the paint scheme should be drab, with lots of bone, rusted metal, blacks and small amounts or reds. Banners are encouraged! Any type of unit would be welcome, infantry, cavalry, monsters, etc. The more infantry, the better! But again, any unit would be gratefully received.

For the free forces, literally whatever you want. I mean it. Fancy painting some imagination 10mm Spartans, Romans, Mongolians, Templar knights, Italian infantry, Cavaliers or other historical unit more or less prior to the Napoleonic period - feel free. Anything that would be suitable in a fantasy setting up to and including basic firearms and gunpowder artillery - there is almost no limit in what historical units you could pick that fits within a rough definition of 'fantasy'.

Just keep them bright and colourful, give banners where you can and really don't stress - the idea is these are units which have answered the call from all over the world to come and fight the big bad. Mercenaries, national armies, volunteers, conscripts, lords, freemen and peasants. Think the old Warhammer/Warmaster range of tech and magic. The idea is that tech levels (in a fantasy context), dress style, etc will all vary depending on what kingdom the good forces come from.

Good old human spearmen, men at arms, archers, billmen, pikemen, peasants, etc, will be more than welcome. But as will human handgunners, landschneckt, cannon, steamtanks, etc.

Otherwise, feel free to pick units from any of the fantasy ranges available. This could be Halfling Ostritch Riders, Elven Spearmen, Dwarf Warriors, Horse Tribe Mounted Archers, or any other 10mm scale unit you fancy. And there are a lot of really cool models out there, including armed penguins, Eskimos, Aztec warriors, elves riding stags, samurai, dragon warriors, etc. Some producers that are worth checking out include:

Pendraken 
Kallistra
Copplestone Castings
Magister Militum
Irregular
Old Glory
Rebel Minis
Fighting 15's
Warmonger Miniatures
Trolls under the Bridge
Newline Designs
Laran Miniatures
Spellcrow

I am really not fussy, so long as the unit isn't science fiction, it can fit. For you historical painters, this is a chance to just pick a period you have always liked and paint up a unit or two. I would add that Pendraken have been fantastic in supporting my initial idea and have provided me with a free undead army pack and rule book, as well as having a chat with me about other support they can offer.

My own contribution:

Currently, I have figures to start both sides in the form of a collection of Kights and Undead units. I aim to paint both up for inclusion in the project. The Knights will very much be styled on Warhammer Bretonnians, and will include (hopefully) some Pegasus Riders and a Lord on a large flying monster. As well as a lot of units of heavy Knights!

However, as mentioned above, I also aim to help base figures received as well as picking up the play aides and such which might be needed, as well as trying to source terrain and the likes.

How you can help:

After my initial post, I have several people kindly offer their brush to the project. I'm am extremely grateful for any help in this that I receive. The support from the guys at the Old Guard Wargames Club has already blown me away, with plans afoot for various forces. Others have contacted me via facebook or through blog comments and offered to help or offered support for me. I very much appreciate this, and I will take up those offers.

As I am UK based, I understand that there are cost implications of international post. I also appreciate that models are not cheap, and that everyone has their own lead mountains and personal burdens to carry. Therefor offers of help of contributions are extremely gratefully received, no matter the size. I know that time, and hobby time, is the most precious thing that anyone can contribute - and that people would contribute that for my wee boy is the most generous thing I can imagine. You'll be helping a dad feel like he is doing something when there is nothing else to be done.

Whether you decide to donate a single monster, hero, a single unit or multiple units, your contribution is gratefully received. If the models are painted, all the better. At the same time, 10mm suitable terrain would also be welcome. 

If you would like to help, to contribute in any way, please drop me a line via ForJoshuasArmy@Gmail.com. I can provide more information, answer questions and provide a postal address.

Other help, such as shout outs to the project on blogs, facebook, podcasts or Youtube are also welcome.

Finally, I have never done anything like this previously, so any advice or guidance that can be offered would be welcome!

Thanks,

James