Old Glory CD-320A Panzer II C/A

Painted up some more Panzer IIs, hopefully this time a more correct model number. I'm guessing this denotes the Pz IIc through A? Kind of hard to coordinate the Old Glory product names, which lack capitalization anywhere I've looked, and the Panzer models a-c and A-C and more. Anyway, this is close enough for me right now.

Had a nice surprise when I went to take these pictures! A while back, I sat down with my camera, worked through all the settings to get some good pictures I was finally happy with, and saved them. Tonight, all the settings were blown away, forcing me to start from scratch again! It took me a bit, but I think I finally got everything back. Probably a good thing to force me to do it every now and then so that I somewhat remember what the heck I'm really doing...

Landmark Normandy Buildings

A while back, I determined to buy some pre-painted 15mm buildings for WW2. I had dithered back and forth for, really, years on exactly what I wanted to do for 15mm Napoleonics, and I thought this was a good opportunity to solve that problem as well. I had debated going with smaller scale figures to better match the groundscale of Field of Battle. Seriously painting up Flames of War figures kind of sinched it for me-- I'd go 15mm.

My first thought was that this was a chance to buy some of those really nice Crescent Root Studios buildings, only to find that they have been on an extended hiatus. I then bought some MBA buildings, having been pleased by some of their 25mm buildings. However, the 15mm just weren't satisfactory to me-- the two parts of the buildings flared out a bit and didn't sit well. So, I took a chance and looked at Landmark.

Well, really I was looking at Timecast, because I knew they had some high quality buildings. They had bought the Landmark line, which I took as a strong sign. The idea that they were all real buildings was appealing, and they seemed to have a positive rep on the net. I bought a pretty big set of them to get a discount, and am really pleased! I also have LNO 17 High Walls, which I forgot to photograph. I wasn't as crazy over them, they're just the wall, with nothing to sit on. But, now I've got a nice terrain mat, nice buildings...I've got to get the rest of my terrain up to snuff!

Quality Castings Hotchkiss H-39

Here's a sample Quality Castings/Battle Honors early war French Hotchkiss H-39 I got in my last order. It's alright, but a tad expensive for what you get, especially compared to Old Glory. The treads are just the loop, with no support, and had to be bent into shape by hand. They're consequently pretty irregular and don't sit quite flush. Plus, the hatches are molded shut (to be fair, it opens in the back and is thus more difficult to cast). However, Old Glory does not make an H-39, so there you go. Again, I did no markings. That will probably follow later. But, today, I have a painted, playable H-39. The details can come later if I have nothing better to do.

And do your tunic up!

"A spot of medicinal brandy would set me up, sir!"
"Brandy's for heroes, Mister Hook..."

Zulu is just my favorite movie ever. I used to have a six foot tall original movie poster, but lost it in a move! A few years back, I even subscribed to Wargames Illustrated just to get the Mark Copplestone Hollywood and historical figures of Gonville Bromhead. So it definitely warms my heart to see this figure pack of Chard, Bromhead, Colour Sergeant Bourne and Private Hook from Empress Miniatures. Apparently, these new figures will be available in about a month, although my order is already in. I still retain no illusions about doing Rorke's Drift in 25mm, though. That's too many Zulus to paint!

"Sixty! I painted at least sixty, wouldn't you say?"
"That leaves three thousand, nine hundred and forty..."


A crossed eye stereographic picture of Bromhead leading British soldiers!

Another Week, Another Platoon

I could get used to this! Unfortunately, this could be it for a while as I head into some vacation time. However, I'm very proud of this unit of Battlefront M4A1 Shermans. I thought they turned out very nicely. I like the tank commander on the left-- remind you of anyone? I don't suppose it's too late to sculpt a beard and mount loudspeakers on the sides of the tank! Maybe when I get around to the decals. Anyway, this should give me a satisfying enough selection to run a largish game between my US Airborne and Panzergrenadiers, so I'm happy. I'll probably be looking to flesh the Germans out now that I have some more Allied support. Now, off for some historical research at Netflix.

Battlefront Panzer IV ausf. H platoon

Another dalliance whilst I wait my next order of early war panzers-- late war panzers! Panzer IV Hs, to be exact. My son has been making noises about playing Flames of War with me, and I have to think it will be more fun for him to have tanks out there. Next up will be some US Shermans and then the fur will fly. I thought these wound up looking pretty nice. They're a little more involved than the early war stuff which I can just paint grey! Ah well, the American Shermans should be easy-- just OD green. Oh yeah, I should go back and put some insignias on here, I forgot about that. I even picked up some decal solvent. Not really a priority right now, though.

I have been cranking out figures lately! Work has been very busy. It's better than having nothing to do, but it's a bit stressful and I have definitely been turning to painting miniatures to relieve some of the stress. This weekend will have a welcome return to some gaming after a few weeks absence and I'm looking forward to it.

More 40k Deathwatch

A couple of more 40k Deathwatch space marines I painted up as a distraction. I expect a large upsurge in Deathwatch interest soon! Since Deathwatch marines come from other chapters to serve the Inquisition, I selected two of the more esoteric chapters I could find-- the sergeant is from the Death Eagles, and the heavy bolter is from the Flame Eagles. The sergeant's back banner is free-handed. It's not great, but it's not that bad. Not being an artist, I'm not too disappointed.

Fall Gelb!

I got a couple of Panzer IIs done for France 1940. The Panzer II was the most numerous German tanks in 1940 by twice as much as any other, yet with a 20mm gun and 14.5mm armor was considered unsuitable for tank on tank combat at the time. That's kind of what intrigues me about the period-- if we play company scale Flames of War, the French should dominate. Yet at division scale Field of Battle, the German's superior tactics and command and control should come to the fore, as they did historically. I wonder if I should include some radio aerials on these? The better, more numerous and more integrated German radios played a big part in their victory. I'm really looking forward to getting a game going! These three Pz IIs are Old Glory Command Decision Pz II d-e's. I'm not sure why I bought that model, it would seem the b-c model would have been correct. Anyway, I have another pack of b-c's coming, I should be 50% correct when I field them!

The number of command stands shall be ten---

"Eleven, sir!"

I gave myself until midnight Sunday, basically a week, to get the command stands done for France 1940. I had laid out all my figures, primed them, and then let them sit on my desk until the weekend and I had time to paint them. Well, I didn't have quite as much time as I had hoped, but 11:45 PM Sunday rolled around with me popping them off the tongue depressors and scoring the bases in order to glue them on, just under my deadline. But, lo, what's this? An extra base?? After counting and counting-- I had shorted my figures one stand. Sigh. So, one deadline blown and three figures still left to paint before I can move on to the armor...

Nice custom maps with the GIMP

Having nice maps adds a lot to any game. Here is a nice article about using the free software GIMP to make some high quality maps. Although geared towards RPG maps, obviously it would work for anything. I haven't tried it yet-- it looks complicated, but it has step-by-step instructions, so it should be doable. The results look like it's probably worth the time to figure out. One of these days...

...and I would have based it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!

My last four stands of OG 15mm old glory CD early war German infantry are lying on table. Next to them lies four stands of HMGs. All are loose, though. Because somebody in this house has taken my @$%#ing glue. Yes, my glue. The one with "DAD'S GLUE! DO NOT TAKE!" written on it repeatedly in bold black Sharpie. It's written thusly because harsh experience has shown my two older kids will TAKE my glue and, with callous disregard for me, not return it. I inevitably do not notice this until it is needed, late in the evening, once they are all asleep in bed, as I have been slaving away over the ungrateful little heathen all day. Frankly, I suspect another culprit in this heinous crime. The devious duo typically leave their ill-gotten goods in some easily found location. Yet I have scoured all the bedrooms and closets in the house with my pitiful iPod for a flashlight, and not discovered my glue anywhere. This leads me to believe that their mother has cleaned up the evidence of their crime behind them, and placed it in some godforsaken location where the kids' art supplies are apparently kept. Like a mafia hitman, I always know when my wife has "cleaned something up," as I never see hide nor hair of it ever again.

Productivity

It's an unsustainable pace, unfortunately, and already I'm burning out a little, but I did kick a little butt the last two days. I finished (well, other than basing) sixteen stands of Old Glory Command Decision early war WW2 German infantry. In fairness, I took the day off work on Friday, so I had a bit more spare time than normal. Still, I'm pretty chuffed. I'm looking to finish another four stands, then four HMG stands and eleven HQ stands. My goal was the end of March, and I'd say that looks very achievable.