From PhilH: Researching Armour and AT at the History section (85 points)

Continuing my amble through the first section of the library with more support options for WWII Fall of France. I focused on the core infantry platoon and some supports in Challenge XIII, then in the spring blitzed through a peloton of motorcycle recce troops.

I have a few more bits for the project in the stash (and the Germans prepped and waiting patiently in the queue), and the French were are lacking armour. First, a Warlord Games 47mm Antitank gun. A chunky  threat to see off those panzers.  

Next, the 3D printer whirred into action to run off a Panhard 178 armoured car, affectionally know as ‘PanPans’ to support the recce troops. Except when one is 3D printing, why print one when you can print two?! So here’s two PanPans for twice the fun. 

These are nice 28mm 1/56 scale files from the Fighting Vehicles Patreon. The turrets are a little tight, just noticed that one on the left needs a bit of forcing down. 

I am fond of French armour design and just added a little stowage to bring them to life. Fortunately I remembered to order some French roundel decals before Christmas, and pinched the others from kits I have in the stash. 

I am keen to hunt down appropriately scaled stls for other French armour, especiallythe commonplace Renault R35. 

A crewed weapon, four crew two of which are prone (40 25) two vehicles (40) and the location bonus makes a lovely 100  85 points. 

Replacement minion Martijn here, as Greg is attending to other duties. I love those early war French, Phil! The camo on the equipment is very well done and the 3D printed Panhards look absolutely great. Well done indeed.

Unfortunately, your math is a little off. Prone figures traditionally score half the points and the gun 10, so that's 25 for the gun and crew,, added to the two vehicles and the location bonus makes a still very respectable 85 points for you.

From GrantH - Canadian Tank Hunters and Light Mortar (45 Points)

Hi Everyone, I have returned with more Canadians! These chaps in particular are the tank hunter section and light mortar team for my late-war project. Like the Recce team I posted previously, they are from the Warlord Games British and Canadian Army plastic set, though I have kit bashed in some PIATs and ordinance Cases to vary their look a little bit. 

While similarly equipped, British And Canadian forces sometimes diverged in structure. The tank hunter team represents one such unique diversion in tactics and structure. The 1st Canadian Infantry Division formed dedicated Tank Hunting Platoons for each Battalion in 1944. These units were outfitted with enough PIATs, Sten guns, anti-tank grenades to menace axis armoured units. These troops were also supported by an LMG section but I have yet to finish painting the support gunners. 

These units proved to be highly effective as the concentrated fire from multiple PIATs proved to be a much more efficient use of the anti-tank weapon. One particularly famous Tank hunter from these platoons was Private E. A. ‘Smokey’ Smith from the Tank Hunting Platoon of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada . He  awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during the crossing of the Savio River, on the night of 21–22 October 1944.

The NCO

The Tank Hunters

Light Mortar

Grand total for this post is nine 28mm figures for a total of 45 points. Now to finish the Flamethrower wielding assault squads and Wasp IICs....

Great work on these tank hunters Grant, they really look the business.  I also like the kit bashing to get the PIAT salvoes up to snuff.   

I'm really enjoying this Canadian project of yours.   I can't recall if Curt or I have recommended the books by Mark Suchlike to you (probably we have).  Holding Juno has plenty of small scale actions where these lads would be really useful as the Panzers try and push our plucky Canucks back into the Channel.

From FrederickC: WW2 Soviet Anti-Tank Guns and Heavy Weapons (200 points)

In my post from last Monday, we saw a major buildup of my Bolt Action Soviet tank forces. This week we are looking at giving the Soviet infantry some much needed firepower. All of the figures and weapons in this post are from the Plastic Soldier Company's 28mm range, specifically their boxes of 'Russian 45mm Anti-Tank Gun' and 'Russian Heavy Weapons'. 

The Plastic Soldier Company's range are an inexpensive alternative to metal, or even multi-pose plastic figures, although I do find some of the poses remind me of the cheap toy soldiers I owned as a young boy, especially those cast as a single piece. They are fine in length and width, but a bit lacking in depth. All of the figures were assembled, mounted on bases (with the exception of the anti-tank gun crews) and primed black using a rattle can. I painted them using acrylics from the Vallejo Soviet Paint Set. Finally everything was hit with Army Painter Strong Tone Quick Shade. The Quick Shade leaves everything with a glossy finish, so when the weather is warmer I will be taking these outside to give them a coat of matte spray to dull them down a bit.

The Russian 45mm Anti-Tank Gun box contains 2 guns and 8 crew figures. Each gun sprue has different barrel options to allow you to build any of the following: 45mm M1937 anti tank gun, 45mm M1942 anti tank gun or 76mm M1943 infantry gun. Since I am current working on an early Operation Barbarossa theme, I built my guns as the M1937 version. The set also contains ammo boxes, both live shells and spent casings, as well as a rifle and sub-machine gun to add to the ambience. Since the bases I used for my guns were getting a bit crowded, I shifted some of the ammo boxes to the medium mortar bases, and the rifles to the machine gun bases.

 

The Russian Heavy Weapons box provides you enough sprues to build 26 miniatures and 8 models depicting WW2 Russian infantry heavy weapons as follows: 2 x 3 man Pulemyot Maxima PM1910 machine gun teams firing, 2 x 2 man machine gun teams moving, 2 x 2 man RM-38 50mm light mortar teams, 2 x 3 man M-37 82mm medium mortar teams, 2 x 2 man firing PTRS-41 anti -tank rifles, and 2 moving PTRS anti-tank rifles.

 

Pulemyot Maxima PM1910 machine gun teams

M-37 82mm medium mortar and RM-38 50mm light mortar teams

PTRS-41 anti -tank rifle teams

 

The points being claimed are as follows:

32 x 28mm figures @ 5 points each = 160 points 

(I am counting the prone anti-tank rifle teams as half figures)

2 4x 28mm artillery pieces @ 10 points each = 20 40 points

(I was hoping that the machine guns and mortars might be worth a few points, but apparently "size matters" when it comes to crew served weapons) 

За Родину (For the Homeland)

Stout defenders of Holy Mother Russia Frederick.  Nice work and they look good on your tabletop.  My research (i.c checking with Tamsin) told me that the 81mm mortars do count so I've upped you scores accordingly.

From BenitoM: British Airlanding Anti-Tank (55 points)

This week I bring one of the optional supports of the British Airborne platoon list for Chain of Command, in the form on an airborne anti-tank battery. This is composed of a 6-pounder anti tank gun and an airborne Bren Carrier that acts as a tow.

The 6 pounder batteries of the Airborne division were a key element to provide some defensive punch to the generally lightly armed infantry troops. Although less powerful that its sister the 17 pounder (also used by the airborne troops), it proved to be versatile and very effective both in the Orne battles in Normandy (June 44) and in Arnhem (September 44).

As it can be expected, they were also a priority target for the enemy. The 2 anti tank batteries at Arnhem suffered an extremely high casualty rate, as illustrated by the following numbers: the 1^st Airlanding AT Battery evacuated 52 out of the 191 men that went in; in the case of the 2^nd Airlanding AT Battery just a mere 37 men out of 168 re-crossed the Rhine back.

The Bren Carrier is a very nice Warlord plastic model. For the crew I replaced the heads on the front driver and gunner with 2 heads from the British Airborne plastic. For the third crew member sitting in the rear, I used a torso and head of the same box.

I found information about the markings in the Arhem Jim blog commented in the Scout bonus round entry post. The 46 in a blue and red square matches the numbering of the AT battery and was placed on the right fender of the vehicle; the divisional marking was located in the left fender.

Note that the model has been painted with the Mickey Mouse camo scheme, widely used in light and transport vehicles by the British in 1944. The vehicle is loaded with a lot of stowage as (ammo boxes, jerry cans, etc) as shown in contemporary photos. 

With respect to the 6 pounder, it is also a Warlord model and comes with a metal crew of three.

If I’ve done my maths correctly, I should receive a total of 55 points from this entry.
 

·       The Bren Carrier is 20 points + 2 half crew models (5 points total) + a full crew model (5 points) = 30 points.

·       The 6 pounder is 10 points for the gun + 15 points for the 3-crew serving the weapon = 25 points.        

To conclude the Airborne Platoon project I’ll be painting an HMG Vickers piece, some jump-off points and a few more single infantry models. As some asked to see the full platoon displayed take a look below. It is not a good photo but you can basically have an idea.

Front left are three supports (PIAT, flamethrower and FOO). Front right is the HQ section (two senior leaders, sniper team and 2cm mortar). At the bottom the three infantry sections.

--------------------------

For the remaining of the Challenge I have decided to return to my Austrian Napoleonic project of last year, and paint some infantry and cavalry reinforcements: white over white will be a rest to my eyes after so much Denison Smock camo!!

The basing and the priming is already done so expect to see some gallant Austrian troops marching here in no time.

                                                                                       

Well, more super paratroopers! Gorgeous camo as always and a delightful 6pdr and equally nice a splendidly weathered carrier, lovely work and yes 55 points it is and  good of you to post your force to date .
 Even though I will miss your paratroopers I am now looking forward to your Napoleonic Austrians!
All the best Iain

From ValeryN - Tank destroyers (168 Pts)

Today's portion of my painted miniatures will be fully devoted to the means of fighting tanks. They are here for all tastes:

These are soldiers with anti-tank rifles...

...sappers with "Molotov cocktails"...

...and the soldiers with captured by the Germans fausts:

And of course I could not do without armored vehicles - self-propelled guns SU-122:

Here 72 soldiers - 144 points and 4 vehicles - 24 points. Total 168 points.

_______________________________________________

Wow... another fantastic and ferocious haul of Soviet weaponry from you, Narval !  Another tremendous entry.  These troops will strike terror into the hearts of any panzer crewman, I'd be sure!  I love the massed anti-tank rifles, and the captured panzerfausts.  Given as the German handheld 'schrecks' and 'fausts' seem to cause havoc on every WWII table I ever play on, it's only fair that you give your Soviet forces some captured ones to turn the tables!

Terrific work, and particularly so since you reached your target of 1,000 points without us properly celebrating!!  1,000 points is an incredible achievement for any painter in a Challenge, and to do this in the time you have done it (before week seven) is really spectacular.  So congratulations, Narval.  Keep those brushes painting away and we'll see if you make it to the big 2,000 by the end of the Challenge!  Here's another 168 well-deserved points towards that total! Well done, Challenge-buddy !!

From ClintB - More an Air Assualt than a Points Bomb! (315 Points)

Well, I blame Martin Goddard. I know what you are thinking, who the heck is Martin Goddard! Well he's the guy who writes the rules for "Peter Pig" and the latest edition of PBI is now out and to celebrate I have decided to paint another company with a little support.

Therefore kindly let me introduce Captain Brown of Dog Company. Yes I could have done Captain winters of Easy company but I did not. I must admit all the names are made up and I have no idea if these were ever officers in Dog company and neither do I much care as these names were all easy to paint and by adding names it does give them all a little more life than random lumps of metal usually get and that's good enough for me.

The first Platoon is led by Lt. Cole. It consists of the command element, 1 Bazooka stand, 1 smg stand 5 Garand rifle stands and 3 BAR stands. Originally BARs (Browning Automatic Rifles) were considered to big at 48 inches to be a paratroopers weapon so were not originally issued. So during the Mediterranean theatre they were never officially issued but by 1944 and D-Day they were. Yellow clump foliage shows the bases designation for BARs.

The second Platoon is led by Lt. Powell. While it has a similar make up to 1st Platoon I have swapped out the BARs for .30 LMGs hence the red clump foliage. I knew you were paying attention. But other than that the platoon has the same number and type of stands. And with me every platoon gets a Bazooka as I know my usual opponent likes STUG 4s so a bit of Anti-tank tends to keep the game a little more balanced.

Third Platoon sees the return of the BARs, although I do have some more .30 cal LMGs to paint up a little later. 2nd Lt Dixon commands here and if he does well in the games I will paint out the 2. If any of them die I will paint out the names and paint someone-else's in. Yeah I am like that. Again the same unit composition as 1st Platoon. So moving on.

4th Platoon is the MMG platoon. As the MMG platoon and 2nd platoon use the same .30 Cal machineguns I thought it only right to give these guys orange tufts and to lay them down to indicate a more fixed position. In reality they had a different tripod which in the PBI rules changes them from am LMG to a MMG. It also changes the point cost of them. This small Platoon also has a bazooka stand (tell me that was a surprise) and a Garand rifle stand to represent the guys bringing up ammunition. It also has a command stand with Lt Hopkins now in charge.

I also have a stovepipe platoon although you may call them medium mortars if you choose. If you have not noticed it already each figure has the US flag painted on their right sleeve just to show whey are not Germans.  If you haven't noticed feel free to go back and check. These really were quite fiddly to paint on and I sis not manage to get all the strips let alone all the stars on them but they are 15mm figures so what do you expect. So this platoon has a command stand, 3 medium Mortars, a single Garand Rifle stand and as you Know by now a Bazooka stand.

I know you thought this is where it would end but now I have an engineer platoon to finish off. So expect that to follow before the end of the challenge. You may take that as a warning but I had to buy some more troops for it yesterday and did not want to miss the weekly deadline.

 If one lot of antitank was not enough I have also finished 2 57mm anti-tank guns. In the rules these do not need a platoon commander stand to accompany them as they may well be farmed out to different companies within the regiment. As the Typical bases for Peter Pig ere not big enough I have resorted to my bases box and put these on some flames of war bases. 2 Anti tank guns should be enough and if not I will use my next unit.

Yes 4 75mm Pack howitzers. again these were air dropped so totally in keeping with the rest of the unit. As with the Guns above being Peter Pig Models they did not fit on bases so I used up some more flames or war bases. While these may not be all that awesome in the game they could fire a variety of rounds in real life including HE, Smoke and Mustard Gas..... yes they could but there is no way I would want to drop with a glider full of mustard gas! these guns were never towed behind lorries or jeeps for very far as all the pieces were so light doing so would damage them. If they needed to be moved a long distance it was better to dismantle them and load the pieces into a truck!

Just when you thought I had finished one last wafer thin figure. A single sniper. As there was no need to put him on a standard base and as I had 1 spare another FOW base was used. In the game snipers are assets which may or may not be effective or even appear on the battle board but I though best to have one just In case. you never know I might do another as I do have one lurking about.

And Finally a couple of shots showing it all together. Just so you do not think I have just painted 1 unit and a couple of spares and re arranged them in different photos. (Ray, Tamsin you know who I am talking to!)

Just a final note about the bases. Other than sand and filler, clump foliage and static grass, I have also driven myself quite cuckoo doing reed foliage as well. the reeds came from a wall papering brush. I cut the bristles and then in groups superglued them in place, and yes I did get some on my teeth and yes that was not the plan and I do not recommend it to anyone! It really is funny the lengths we go to some times!

I have not done all these in a week I have been working on them since Christmas day and I prefer to think of them as not a bomb but an air assault. All the figures are 15mm and are a mixture of Battlefront (Flames of War) and Peter Pig figures. They are all based for PBI 3rd edition, and yes as mentioned above an engineer platoon to finish as well as various odds and sod to cover ever eventuality!

So How many figures?

Captain Brown. 2 figures.

1st Platoon:

• Command stand 2 figures
• Bazooka stand 2 figures
• SMG stand 2 Figures.
• 5 Garand rifle stands 3 figures a stand, 15 figures total.
• 3 BAR stands 2 figures a stand, 6 figures in total

31 15mm figures
2nd Platoon

Command stand 2 figures

Bazooka stand 2 figures

SMG stand 2 Figures.

5 Garand rifle stands 3 figures a stand, 15 figures total.

3 .30 cal LMGs stands 2 figures a stand, 6 figures in total

31 15 mm figure in total

3rd Platoon

Command stand 2 figures

Bazooka stand 2 figures

SMG stand 2 Figures.

5 Garand rifle stands 3 figures a stand, 15 figures total.

3 BAR stands 2 figures a stand, 6 figures in total

31 Figures in total

Machine gun Platoon

• Command stand 2 figures
• Bazooka stand 2 figures
• Garand Rifle stand 3 figures 
• 4 MMG stand each of 2 figures but laying down

16 figure total but 8 are laying down so counts as 11 figures.

Mortar Platoon.

• Command stand 2 figures
• Garand Rifle Stand 3 figures
• Bazooka Stand 2 figures
• 3 mortar stands with mortars so 6 figures and 3 mortars

13 figures and 3 mortars (Not sure if they get any points so let us say not!)

Anti tank and Artillery

• 2 57mm guns with 4 crew each!
• 4 75mm Howitzers with 4 crew each!

24 figures and 6 guns

1 sniper.

Grand total
149 15mm figures. (8 of which are laying down.) 6 guns, and 3 mortars. I think but feel free to count them . I will leave Curt to do all the maths and assign points ! (Let's hope he is generous!!!!)

The Partridge and Pear tree not included in the points but are modelled opps the partridge has flown off! darn there goes another point!

That should be enough points to spring me past my target so once the Engineer platoon is out of the war I can get on with some space ships.  (I hope).


From Curt:

Woo! This is a wonderful (and impressively large) entry Clint - well done! The figures are very nice but I must say I'm particularly taken by the verdant groundwork you've created for them.  It really brings forward images of the airdrops in France and Holland. (See, the reeds superglued to your teeth paid off!)  Beautiful work. 

Finally, congratulations on blowing past your 1250 point target!  Bask in your achievement and enjoy your coast to the finish line!