From Millsy: Western Desert Italian Infantry & Weapons Teams (155 points)

G'day All,

I didn't think I'd get any of the Italian infantry finished before the end of the Challenge but it turns out there was less work to do than I thought. These stalled at the base coat(ish) stage but when I picked them up again they progressed quicker than expected. I think I was more fatigued by the detail than anything when I left them off. There's another 35 infantry to finish but this is a good start...

HQ + Blackshirt Squad (70 points)

This represents a couple of officers and offsiders, plus a ten-man squad of Blackshirt (aka fanatic) infantry squad. It's unlikely they wore their funky nightcaps into combat but I wanted a few in there for character and so I can distinguish individual squads on the table.

Weapons Teams (85 points)

The Bolt Action Italian starter army from Warlord Games contains a good selection of weapons teams but it's not all possible options and the missing elements are available in other packs e.g. sniper team. If you are careful though, you can find what you want in the starter army (like a prone rifleman pinched from the mortar team of all places) and make your own teams to fill the gap. It also means you can mix more types of headgear in by replacing some metal weapons team crew with plastics from the infantry sprue.

There's still plenty of infantry left but they will have to be completed ex-Challenge unfortunately. Still, I've managed to knock off a full Aussie 1000 point army, plus about 600 points of Italians amongst everything else time round so I'm pretty pleased with the progress.

Cheers,

Millsy

Succeeding in painting 600 points worth of Italian on top of everything else is quite an achievement, Millsy, especially when they are painted so well as these. I really like the Blackshirts in their "nightcaps", but I am equally impressed with your creativity in assembling your weapons teams. Also, I think your bases look very good indeed. All in all a great addition to your force. Having left this poor minion to find out the exact composition of the entry for himself, I do think your calculations are right so another 155 points for you. Well done!

Martijn

From Millsy: Bolt Action Italian vehicles for the Western Desert (125 points)

G'day All,

Having knocked off my Aussies for the Western Desert I have started work on the Italian opposition. I decided to mix things up this time and paint all the vehicles first and really enjoyed working on these, especially the weathering and battle damage.

M13/40 Tank(ette) x 2 (40 points)

Technically classed as a medium tank these mobile pie tins were loaded with MGs and most effective against infantry and soft skins. These are both the Warlord Games plastic kit (licensed from Italeri), one for me and one for a mate.

AB41 x 3 (60 points)

One of my favourite WWII vehicles is the ABx range of Italian armoured cars. There's just something about the lines and the huge sand tires that really appeals to me. I've got one each of the twin MGs and 20mm autocannon by accident. Perry Miniatures mistakenly sent me the wrong one twice(!) so I ended up converting the turret on one of them to the autocannon rather than ask for yet another one. Green stuff to fill the holes intended for the MGs, plus wire and paper to craft the gun does a pretty convincing job I think. These are Blitzkrieg Miniatures models, all in resin and with a nice weight to them.

The third version one is the Warlord Games version painted for a mate. It's quite different from the Blitzkrieg Miniatures version and appears to be closer to the real thing, especially the wheels.

One of these ACs is not like the others...

Fiat AS 37 Sahariano Truck/Transport x 1 (25 points)

This will be a transport vehicle for my engineer section once painted. It's also Blitzkrieg Miniatures via Perry Miniatures and a nice looking vehicle overall, although the cab assembly needed a lot of work to make it fit and still has plenty of flaws which I am treating as battle damage. The cab is resin and paper thin in places which caused a few hairy moments when cutting to fit. It had to be painted separately and glued on at the end so I could reach the driver but the alternative was painting him through the windows and that was never going to work.

Next up all the infantry and support weapons. Thanks for looking!

Cheers,

Millsy

 

***

 

Fantastic work on all of these Millsy, what a treat to start the day here in North America. You have really nailed the colours and the weathering on all of these vehicles. I can feel the heat of the North Afrcian sun radiating from the hulls and engine blocks, and imagine the sand and wind wearing the paint and primer right down to the metal. Also some fine conversion work after the retail fiasco with the Perrys - I never would have noticed the difference unless you had mentioned it. 

 

Look forward to the poor foot sloggers to follow - great job!

From Millsy: More 28mm WW2 Aussies in the Western Desert (150 points)

G'day All,

I'm back with the second batch of stuff for my Bolt Action 2nd Australian Imperial Force (AIF) for the Western Desert in WW2. This time it is a couple of guns and some mobile pie tins. This lot completes the entirety of the 8th Army Starter Set plus extras.

First up is the iconic QF 25-pdr howitzer. Used by British, Australians and other Commonwealth countries it was a staple of Allied artillery in the Wester Desert and Europe later in the war. Capable of delivering a thumping artillery barrage or firing over open sights in a pinch its a must have in any British army in Bolt Action, fulfilling both the indirect and direct fires roles in a single unit. The turntable and gun shield only add to the versatility and survivability. 

Next up is the QF 6-pdr anti-tank gun. These didn't arrive until well after the campaign started and I wouldn't have one at all apart from it was in the starter set. For now it will do as a proxy for the 2-pdr which is the correct calibre for my 1941 themed force.

Finally here's a couple of Universal Carriers with crews. These are amongst my favourite vehicles for the period for many reasons.

They were used in any number of roles and performed admirably, but look like they were a complete bugger to drive or ride around in under the scorching desert sun. Any Australian will know what a summertime seat belt buckle can do to the inside of your arms and these would have been much, much worse.

Not the easiest things to paint with all the nooks and crannies but an absolutely necessity for my Aussies to feel complete. FWIW I was somewhat tempted to paint these in the controversial Caunter colour scheme but I have never found any in Australian service with that applied so it wouldn't feel right to do it.

Points-wise we have two guns plus six crew at 25 points each, plus two carriers plus eight crew at 40 points each and I'll use this as my "New Acquisitions" entry for the Challenge Library at a further 20 points. All up that makes a nice round 150 points this time out.

Hope you enjoy them and thanks for looking!

Cheers,
Millsy

*****

Fantastic brushwork on these Western Desert Aussies here Millsy. Leaving aside the total nightmare that is the "Caunter" cammo, even finding the right tones for the sun-cooked-khaki-sand is always a b**ch and you have nailed it here. It is great to have you back in the Challenge and once more turning out large amounts of kit painted to a lovely standard. Well done. 150 for you!

Greg 

From Millsy: 28mm WW2 Aussies in the Western Desert (305 points)

G'day All!

I hope everyone is well and enjoying a safe and relaxing break with plenty of hobby time. It's great to be back amongst the best people on the planet and participating in my 12th Challenge! I feel even more like a grognard typing that but it's something I'm proud to have in my hobby history regardless.

My first post this year is a sizable chunk of stuff for a long overdue project from my POV - 2nd Australian Imperial Force (AIF) for the Western Desert in WW2.

Since I started wargaming I've been fascinated by the Western desert campaign and the achievements of the Australians at Bardia, Tobruk, El Alamein and beyond. I've had a matching 15mm Flames of War force for a loooooong time and am always ready to take on any and all comers. The boys never disappoint, even when on the losing side.

Stepping up in scale with the Aussies is something I've really enjoyed. The Warlord Games models are for the most part very nice indeed, with just the odd pose you can mostly work around with some creative modelling. These infantry are almost exclusively from the newer Commonwealth sprues which are good overall but do have some weird gaps like no separate weapons. This meant raiding the bits box to arm a few prone figures but you can't easily tell the weapons are incorrect.

I've also included a number of Eureka Miniatures heads in the iconic slouch hat as the ones on the sprue are too few in number and a bit samey-samey. The sniper team is also from Eureka and very nice indeed. I think it is meant to be a jungle themed set but the bare chest and slouch hat are perfect for the desert. The mortar and MG teams are metal Warlord Games kits.

I won't go into exhaustive detail on the various teams and sections here. There's a command with hangers on, at least one of every basic weapon team option and four medium sized rifle sections. I've limited myself to typical 1941ish Aussie infantry battalion armament so there's no SMGs (proper NCOs carry rifles!) and the Boys AT is the heaviest hitter here. That'll make it a harder list to play vs. vehicles but my main opponent is Italian so apart from (hilarious) light tanks and armoured cars I won't be facing anything armoured anyway.

All up this is 53 infantry and 2 crewed weapons for a total of 285 points. I'm also submitting this as my History entry for the Challenge Library bringing the total to 305 points to start off. The qualified librarian in me wants you to know these will be filed under DDC 940.542 - History and Geography > Europe > Europe1918- > Military History Of World War II > Campaigns and battles by theatre. You learned something today!

Coming up next for this project is a couple of Universal Carriers and an iconic 25pdr howitzer. Eventually there will also be a Matilda II tank and maybe one or two other fluffy items.

Cheers,
Millsy

_____________________________________

Fabulous opening barrage, Millsy!

I admire you painting almost as much as your grasp of Dewey Decimal Classification, young man. I also like your use of Eureka head swaps to add that little bit more Aussieness to your force - well done. Finally I think your desert groundwork spot on. It makes me want to reach for sunscreen and a cool umbrella drink.

305 points is quite the stonk, and puts you at the top of the roster (for now). Congrats! look forward to the upcoming additions to these hard-fighting Rats.

- Curt

From DallasE: Return to the Western Desert! (World Cinema, 70 points)

Back to the Western Desert indeed! In preparation for an El Alamein game I hosted on Thursday, I built and painted this 1/48 Tamiya Matilda (yes I know Matildas weren't really a big deal in '42) and some really nice Perry Miniatures Germans. On with the show! 

The model was pretty straightforward to assemble, as are most Tamiya 1/48 kits. But nowadays rather than having a metal lower hull, the newer Tamiya kits are all plastic - albeit with some solid metal tubes to insert inside the hull to add some nice weight to the model.

I painted the model in a weathered Caunter camo pattern. And if you've ever read anything about Caunter camo, you know it's controversial! Some say blue, some say grey, some green... who knows. But I think this ended up looking OK. The base tan is AK Deck Tan, the blue is Thunderhawk Blue, and the slate grey is Vallejo German Uniform. 

For Christmas I got a box of AK Interactive paints and washes - "Rust and Staining" edition. Pretty good stuff and has come in handy, I used the Dark and Light Rust on the exhaust mufflers.

There was a bottle of German Camo Black-Brown in that box as well and I love that stuff, especially for sponge chipping. I used to mix craft black paint and GW Rhinox Hide but I love the pre-mixed GCBB for this work.

I used some of the kit decals on the kit but not all of the ones that were provided for "Defiance". This was because there was already stowage and junk stuck on the turret where the decals were supposed to go. Anyway it's a nice model and I think it turned out OK. 

The other models for this week are from Perry Miniatures - the German Zug/Platoon Command pack. Really nice models just as you'd expect from the twins. They're painted just like the other Perry Germans I've done thus far. If you're interested you can have a look at some here.
 

You get an MG-34 gunner and assistant...

An officer in some rather casual clothing and a runner...

And an anti-tank rifleman enjoying a drink with an NCO. I made the sign for our recent game, it's from a 1/35 Italeri kit. I used a 0.1mm technical pen for the lettering and skull and crossbones. I love stuff like this as it adds so much to the gaming battlefield.

For this one I'm gonna head over to the World Cinema for 20 bonus points, add that to 20 for the Matilda and 30 for five 28mm infantry, and you get 70 total.

Tally ho and Heia Safari!

Love the Matilda, really great job on that. Impressed with the wafer biscuits named after the good Lady Sarah, hope they are nice or she will be insulted that her name is being applied to shoddy mechandise

From DallasE: 1:50 Afrika Korps Sdkfz. 7 Prime Mover (Historical Drama, 40 points)

For my second post today, we've been dropped off by Lady Sarah's limo at the Historical Drama Studio, where our subject is this 1:50 Sdkfz. 7 prime mover. Suits the studio of course because it's a model to be used in an historical game.

This model was originally a prepainted diecast from Corgi. I thought when I bought this model that it could enter service with my Afrika Korps force as-is, but I really wasn't feeling the paint job... that's OK, they're easy enough to repaint.

After masking off the windshield with tape, I primed the model black and painted the metalwork with Zandri Dust, washed with Agrax Earthshade. The interior is Mechanicus Standard Grey highlighted with Dawnstone and lightly washed with Nuln Oil. The upholstery and top are Mournfang Brown highlighted Steel Legion Drab. 

As was typical on DAK vehicles, a small spot was left in original Panzer Grey and the DAK insignia applied (you'll see another such spot on the front offside fender). The paintwork was sponge-chipped with Vallejo German Camo Black Brown.

Of course I added a bunch of stowage from Value Gear. I've almost exhausted my stock of that so will soon need to order more. The stowage really adds a lot to this DAK model.

Here's a better view of the DAK insignia and number plate.

I thought I would include a pic of the 8-ton prime mover in its natural environment - they were often used as tow vehicles for the 88mm Flak 36. Painting this prime mover also motivated me to repaint the 88 - I lightened the colour somewhat as the original colour I painted it was kind of dark. No points for that though of course.

Painting this Sdkfz. 7 has prompted me to place another order with Perry Miniatures for some crew and passengers to use with this vehicle. You're welcome, Perry twins :-)

Anyway the points break down like this:

28mm vehicle: 20 points

Historical Drama Studio bonus: 20 points

Total: 40 points

 Love this, Corgi vehicles do paint up so well, I have many in my collection. Normally I would like a specific film to go with this vehicle, I'm sure someone has made a movie about WW2. I'll say it's from the Dirty Dozen