Greek infantry figures

I have started painting some Greek infantry from the Great Escape Games range. I intend to use them in games of Iron Cross, in an Invasion of Greece scenario, so these first 10 figures will represent two platoons.

The colours I used (this helps me to remember in case I come back at a later date and want to add more figures to the existing army) were all from Vallejo Model Color range. I based the colours on some photos of a group of WWII Greek re-enactors, who I assume have paid plenty of attention to getting the authenticity of the uniform correct.

• Helmets - 70890 Reflective Green
• Tunics, trousers and greatcoats - 70924 Russian Uniform WWII (painted over with a wash of Citadel Agrax Earthshade to make the green a bit browner)
• Rifles and webbing - 70846 Mahogany Brown
• Metal - 70995 German Grey
• Ammo pouches and holsters - 70822 German Cam Black Brown
• Bags - 70882 Middlestone
• Puttees and waterbottle cover - 70921 English Uniform
• Boots - 70843 Cork Brown
• Cap badges and rank insignia - 70824 German Cam Orange Ochre
• Collar tabs - 70946 Dark red

The bases are 4Ground 'New Wood' with a dry brush of Dulux Sandstone.

Some of the figures have "bushy tails" on the back of their caps (does anyone know what these are called?), which I have painted black and very lightly dry-brushed with 70991 Dark Sea Grey to pick out the detail.

I have so far purchased 20 infantry + 4 HQ figures; a mortar; a heavy machine gun; a sniper team; three anti-tank units and a couple of captured Italian CV35 tankettes.

These will be supplemented by several squads of British infantry and a 2 pounder. I've got a variety of early war British tanks too, so just need to research which ones can be fielded in Greece.

I've not worked out the points value for Iron Cross yet, but it seems like I have enough to hold back the invading Germans. Just need lockdown to be over so that I can get back to some tabletop gaming!

Allied Forces for Crete

As part of my ongoing project to recreate the WWII battle for Crete, I have been working on building some terrain and painting up the opposing forces.

Here are a few pics of a couple of miniatures I have painted to test out different colour schemes for the Allied armies. 

I looked around the web to find some reference sites; here are a few:

• https://i.pinimg.com/originals/24/ba/9d/24ba9d3a69a97554866d91acb9b39a69.jpg
• https://eminismagazine.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/mb-8th-army.jpg
• https://www.super-hobby.com/products/WW-II-British-8th-Army-North-Africa-1941-1943.html#gallery_start
• https://i.pinimg.com/236x/9b/87/75/9b8775498dd622bc3b9c8367a62ae79b--rats-travel-ideas.jpg
• https://i.pinimg.com/736x/41/6a/c5/416ac543560149866ba33c94ead55cd5.jpg
• https://www.facebook.com/desertratslivinghistorygroup
  

Looking at the colour of the various uniforms in photos, especially of re-enactors (rather than artists' renderings), they are not particularly...uniform.  There is a lot of variation in the tones and shades of khaki, beige and tan. I guess this makes sense and would be historically accurate to paint up my army using various shades and avoiding uniformity.  The soldiers on Crete were a mixed bunch in terms of both units and nationalities and had congregated from across the Mediterranean prior to the German invasion. On that basis, I decided to try out several different colours for the uniform (randomly mixing and matching on the shirts, shorts, trousers, battledress) from the Vallejo range.

• German Camo Beige
• Middlestone
• Iraqi Sand
• Khaki
• Dark Sand
• Desert Yellow
  

The miniatures I am using for my "Creforce" are all from either the Artizan 8th Army range or Artizan British Infantry, supplied by Great Escape Games. I've got a mixture of troops in summer uniform and battledress. Looking back at from photos from the time, the soldiers on Crete really were a mixed bunch, so it seemed appropriate to have a mix of minis too.

Here are the first two test paints, with only the main colours blocked in.

After blocking in colours, I use Games Workshop/Citadel Agrax Earthshade to darken the colours down and provide shading. Here is what the same two models look like with the shading applied.

I'm reasonably pleased with how they have turned out. I can see which colours work well and how they look after the shading. Looking back at the reference photos, I am leaning towards painting most of the army using lighter tones such as Iraqi Sand as the main base colour.

Here is what the same two minis look like with a bit of highlighting applied.

Painting the remnants of my Fallschirmjager

Finishing off the FJs

I painted a platoon of FJ from Great Escape Games, which are a mixture of Artizan Designs models and Wargames Foundry, last Christmas (2018), but for some reason left 5 models on the lead mountain. I picked them up a couple of days ago and thought that I would finish them off.

Here are a couple of pics of some of the finished models.

Here are the work-in-progress models with just some of the base colours blocked in so far.

One thing that I have really noticed in the intervening 12 months is that my eyesight and my memory have both deteriorated significantly! For the life of me, I cannot remember the original colours that I used for the completed models; and secondly, I'm really struggling to see the detail when painting.  I borrowed my son's magnifying glass yesterday evening and looked at the 5 guys I am trying to paint. ;-(  It looks like a trip to Specsavers is in order to get some reading glasses.