Long time... No see... Back to business and AWI.

With horror and regret I realised that my last sign of life was a month ago. Honestly I have no excuse for that other than ongoing problem with finding hobby time. Some pleasant and unpleasant incidents ate up my time and my time to prepare and write articles for this humble blog was even shorter than my painting time.

Anyway this weekend I how much I missed the connection to the bloggosphere and that I should wade into blogging again as soon as possible.

Thus let me start with the command figures I previewed lately:

Those two figures are part of an older Wargames Foundry set from their wonderful AWI range (here). Actually those men are meant to Cornwallis and Clinton but for me they'll serve as more or less versatile generals as divisional HQ for our AWI games. Both are splendid sculpts by Alan Perry with characterful faces and awesome details. Although he made those pieces of art a couple of years ago they are still splendid and stand every comparison to his latest work. In comparison to the newer ranges (e. g. the Perry Miniatures AWI range or Front Rank) the figures especially the horses are notably smaller. For me that is no problem as long as I don't have them side by side on one and the same vignette or unit.

The chickens and the circular base are by Warbases. They are from Diane's and Martin's expanding range of animals and serve very well to make such vignettes more vivid and less monotonous.

I hope you like my first presentation after this rather long absence. Although my family and me are on holiday next week I'll prepare a some material I collected during the last weeks to stay present.

Death of Colonel Christian von Ompteda

Last week the next deadline on Curt's painting challenge occured: Casualties.

There are many excellent entries and I cannot encourage you enough to have a look at the dedicated website. My entry was...

The Death of Colonel Christian von Ompteda at Waterloo

Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Ompteda was a Hanoverian officer who served as brigade commander during the battle of Waterloo. He was born in Ahlden an der Alster in Lower Saxonia. After becoming a lieutenant of the Hanoverian foot guards he was badly wounded during the French Revolutionary Wars. When Hannover's army was dissolved after the Convention of Artlenburg he emigrated to England and was one of the first to join the King's German Legion. During the following years Von Ompteda served in several campaigns in Denmark, Spain and France. In 1815 he was colonel and commander of the 2nd Brigade KGL in Charles von Alten's 3rd Infantry Division at Waterloo. He found his heroic death during a daring but desperate attack in line formation with the 5th KGL Line Battalion by the order of the questionable Prince of Orange.

Allessandro Barbero describes Ompteda's final moments as follows in his excellent re-narration of the battle of Waterloo:

"Suddenly, the order came to deploy in line and advance at a walk; when his men were some sixty yards away from the enemy, Ompteda had the bugler sound the charge and urged his horse into the midst of the thick line of French skirmishers. The tirailleurs scattered. [...] Colonel von Ompteda was encircled by enemy infantry, and the French officers, amazed by his courage, shouted to their men to take him alive; but Ompteda, who was by then [...] beside himself, started aiming sabre-strokes at the heads of the men surrounding him, and someone lost patience. When lieutenant Weatherly regained consciousness, the colonel lay dead two steps away from him, with his mouth open and a hole in his throat."

(Allessandro Barbero "The Battle", pp. 312 - 313)

I was deeply impressed when I read those lines for the first time and they inspired me for this vignette. It shall represent the fallen colonel dragged away from his fallen horse by a comrade from the 5th Line Battalion KGL. Maybe the scene differs slightly from Barbero’s portrayal but I wanted to have it a bit vivid and the Perrys offer such an amazing British officer casualty. Actually all the figures are from Perry miniatures. Three from the British Napoleonic casualties set and a slightly converted horse which I found on a rummage table at Crisis last year. 

As usual I painted the figures with Vallejo Model Colours and employed different types of foliage, static grass and modelling flowers to add some fauna to the scene. As a little trick I didn’t glue on the single British casualty yet because I’m thinking of replacing him by one or two Frenchmen which Ompteda killed with his final blows.

AWI Command Base

Last week I was a bit restricted. A conjunctivitis ("pink eye") afflicted me and so time with full vision was precious. Besides painting miniatures I was busy with preparing my new laptop so there wasn't too much time to do other eye stressing things like reading or commenting blogs. Please excuse me for missing you last weeks efforts. At least I'll try to read the things I missed.

Anyway I finished the first command base I ever produced. It shall represent the brigade command for my highlanders:

My first command base... ever.

Actually it's a combination of an officer, a drummer and an ensign in the uniform of the Black Watch with the regiment's King's Colour which shall serve as kind of pars pro toto for the brigade command. The figures are from the excellent Perry twins and the flag is from GMB Designs. Unfortunately the contact between the officer's sabre and his hand was very week and it broke of while I varnished the figure. So I had to repair it and used flattened piano wire which I hammered and grinded into shape. I had to remodel a part of the hand as well but I think it doesn't stand out too much.

Close-up of the ensign...

... and the drummer...

... and the commanding officer himself.

My next task is to finish a group of British officers interrogation an American POW. Besides that I've got some Gripping Beast plastic Vikings on my workbench and my efforts for "Bloggers for Charity" seem to become concrete. Loki announced to send me a unit of FIW redcoats soon and I'm planning to paint them around christmas.

By the way I recognized that 50.000 hits are coming nearer and I'm thinking about continuing the tradition to organize a raffle now and then. In case I'll find some useful prizes I will...

With a tow, row, row, row, row...

This morning I realized that my last posting was more than a week before. Actually that's too long but this week a very special unit attracted me and kept me at the workbench. You might want to use the Youtube-Link below before you scroll down. It's the sound that I've been whistling for the last days:

Without any doubt most of you know this tune very well: The unit I painted mainly over the last weeks is 16 men of British Grenadiers from the American war of independence:

With a tow, row, row, row, row to the British Grenadiers...

The miniatures are from the excellent range of Wargames Foundry and are beautifully detailed. Especially the faces and the eyes have so much expression that I tried to outline the details better than usual. Because they can rarely be spotted on the gaming table I refuse to paint them mostly. Anyway those brave grenadiers disabused me.

The commanding officer and two of his grenadiers.

But with the other things I stayed traditional. With only a few exceptions I used Vallejo Model Colours to paint the boys and afterwards I shaded them with Armypainter Quickshade (dark tone). As you have noticed probably I painted them with different facing colours because I imagined them as a combined battalion of the grenadier companies of different regiments.

The right flank.

Since the buff faced regiments used to wear buff waistcoats and trousers as well those soldiers stick out a bit. Actually I'm not too satisfied with the result of buff so I'm not sure whether I should paint buff faced regiments in the future.

The left flank.

On the other hand there are some green and royal blue faced regiments which I like much better. Even the black ones turned out rather well which I'll need as grenadiers from the 84th Regiment of Foot which fought during the Penobscot Expedition of 1779.

In a final step I'll have to finish the bases during the next days but the varnish has been a bit gluey still. But I couldn't wait to take the photos and write this post...

Apropos Penobscot Expedition:

The weekend after the next we'll have a very special club meeting. We'll hold the test match for our this year's Crisis presentation game which will losely cover the happenings of the Penobscot Expedition. Actually very losely since we'll be playing with much more troops and a rather freely refined progress of events. Anyway we'll have a really large battlefield and about thirty to fifty units which will be great fun I presume.

But on the other hand I'll have to finish some board tiles and maybe some more Scotsmen for the game so I'm not sure whether I'll be able to present you my efforts. But you'll see some pictures after the great game at the latest.

AWI-Scotsmen: 74th Regiment of Foot finished

Finally they're done!

After I presented the first finished miniatures last week (here) I was very anxious to get the whole unit finished until today. Mainly because we'll have an AWI-game this evening and I would like to field those Highland boys for the first time.

The whole unit (klick to enlarge).

When we started to play AWI we decided that a unit of standard size has ten models. To be honest I don't remember the precise reason but it was associated with our small AWI collections and the smaller (real) forces compared to Napoleonic times. However I used two sets of Perry AWI Scots (here and here) and painted them in an proper scheme to represent the 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot. I chose this unit because the took part in the small campaing to found Fort George and defended it during the American Penobscot Expedition and we are planning to play some small scenarios related to these events.

As usual I used Vallejo paints and tried to illustrate all important uniform details within the limits of reasonable effort. Unfortunately the unit has to wait for its colours a bit. Iain from Flags of War told me that the fitting flag is nearly prepared and will be available soon. Probably I'll field the regimental colour with the unit and the King's colour on the command stand for the brigade. Two flags in a ten model unit would look a bit excessive I presume...

Reviewing Black Watch

First of all thanks for the kind comments and good wishes. Although breathing is still a bit difficult, my cough seems to get better. Hopefully the antibiotics do their work well.

However I used this afternoon for the last finishing touches on my Black Watch Highlanders. After the poor snapshot which I used last week to prove that painting was finished in 2012, here is a much better one. I hope, you enjoy it:

My interpretation of the I / 42nd (Highland) Reginent of Foot (Black Watch) during the Napoleonic Wars.

Here's a short review:

Weekly News 21st October 2012: Foot Artillery based

Time goes by so fast and another week is over.
Unfortunately I didn't win neither Fran's nor Ray's lottery for some Rejects' dice. Congratulations to all lucky winners here and there!

On the workbench there has been some progress. Finally I managed to finish the basing of my first three batteries of Royal Foot Artillery:

The three bases from obove. In the middle there one space left to put another crewman or officer in.

These are the three 9pdr guns which I made from the Victrix plastic set (look here or here). The miniatures are nicely modeled and cleanly cast. As all Victrix plastics they have to be assembled from five to seven parts. The guns can be build as 6pdr guns, 9pdr guns or 5.5" howitzers. I decided to build late Napoleonic 9-pounders and add a howitzer later (I already got the one from the Perrys...).

Here are the three:

If you remember some of the crewmen then you are completely right. I finished some of them in June for the great Kolberg game and presented some bad cellphone-photos then. But I hope you like those pictures better.

Next week will be quiet on Monty's Caravan because I'll go on vacation with my wife and our daughter. Although we plan to visit the German Navy Museum in Wilhelmshaven (look here) I'll probably not be able to present a review before I'm back home.

42nd Rgt. of Foot "Black Watch" (1): Test-Highlander painted

After the long posts of last week, there's only a short update today.

Lastly I prepared my next unit: The 42nd Rgt. of Foot "Black Watch".
Because of the good price I bought some Victrix plastic miniatures. To me they look really great. The details are nice and crisp and I like them better than the Royal Foot Artillery by Victrix I recently painted.

Although there are some promising decals by Warflags on the market but I decided to try my luck with painting them myself. On the World Wide Web I found a nice tutorial by John O'Brien (Link). He explains a kind of simplified tartan for toy soldiers and I used the following colours:

• Vallejo Model Colour 050 "Dark Prussian Blue" as base colour
• Citadel "Dark Angels Green" for the check
• Vallejo Model Colour 072 "Deep Green" for the brighter center checks
• Vallejo Black for the thin lines between green and blue

For the rest of the uniform I used the same colours as for the 44th. On the picture below you see one shot of a highlander with the painted kilt only and on the left a nearly finished model with Armypainter Quickshade applied already. Although there are some finishing touches (buttons, highlights) to do I'm really pleased with the result. The kilt turned out better than I expected and you can guess which tartan it shall represent. Nevertheless I'm afraid of the grenadiers and the drummer with an additional thin red check above the usual government tartan...

I hope to ale to proceed with the next highlanders quickly and maybe I'll be ale to post some new pics next weekend.

Finally.... Basing finished !

Last week was quite in Monty's Caravan. For the last evenings I've been busy with three gun crews of Royal Foot Artillery which habe to be finished until next week because they're needed for a large Napoleonic game in a fortnight.
Additionally I have to deepen the Black Powder rules, learn the composition of the army for the game and arrange things with my allied commanders.

Therefor blogging got a raw deal last week.

Nevertheless I want to keep you informed and present the major progress of this weekend. I finished the bases of my 44th Rgt. of Foot finally:

The completely finished regiment.

Within the next few days I'll try to post a short tutorial how I made the bases. Nothing too exiting bit to me the result has been worth the efforts.

Napeoleonic British: 1st Unit, 2nd Wave

Finally the next wave of 28mm British Napoleonic Lineinfantry is done. It took two weeks of weekly labour to paint nine figures. Altogether I needed about 1000 minutes for painting from basecoat to varnish. That's about two hours per miniature. I'm a rather slow painter though but those Perry miniatures are awfully detailed. Those bloody lacings on the jackets nearly drove me crazy...

All 14 soldiers which are done yet.

As before I used Vallejo paints and Armypainter Quickshade to paint the boys:

Five of the new ones... I especially like the one that is biting open the cartridge...

Some details had to be improved: I used a brighter skin tone this time (Citadel Elf Flesh) because the first firgures looked too pale to me. Addinitonally I used a darkish yellow (Citadel Foundation Iyadon Darksun) to paint the cuffs and collars, as second step I highlighted them with the bright Vallejo yellow I used for the first figures already. And I spent a little more time on the metal parts. This time I added some final highlights with Citadel Mithril Silver after quickshading.

Here's a comparison picture of a new one (left) and an "old" one from the first wave (right):

Soldiers from 2nd wave (left) and 1st wave (right) in comparison.

Overall I'm satisfied with the result and I'll finish the unit this way. Doesn't look award winning but like solid wargaming stuff to me.
Maybe dark tone is a bit too... dark. Currently I'm shying away a bit from bying another can of Quickshade for 25 EUR.... But maybe I should consider it (meaning Strong Tone) and spare the Dark Tone for some Dark Elves...

Well... That's it for now. On Sunday I prepared the final ten models for this unit. Two standard bearers, an officer, a sergeant, a drummer and five additional privates. I hope to finish them within the next two or two-and-a-half weeks... I'll provide some WIP pictures from time to time.

Next unit on the workbench will be a battery of British Napoleonic foot artillery. Three guns with limbers and fifteen men. If you're interested I could provide a short step by step review then.

Game Review 18.02.2012 - Part 2: The Battle

Finally on Saturday morning everything was ready. Michael and me gathered around the table which a friend of ours had prepared. He arranged interesting terrain with the Italeri church dominating the eastern part of the board. After discussing the areal chracteristics (cover, movement etc.), Niclas prepared a interesting though historically incorrect scenario and explained the mission objectives:

British Mission

It's soon after the allied landing in Italy. The British spearhead was able to advance from the landing zone which lies somewhere westerly of the board. To secure the arriving reinforcements it is vital to conquer the village nearby to expand the beachhead (2). Additionally the allies will need a high-capacity supply line. Therefor the well supported road in the east must be taken (3).

Italian Mission

Although the Allies were able to bring the first wave of troops onto the beach, there is still a chance to baulk the invasion. Therefor it is vital to stop the allied advance and keep control of the village (2). Additionally the pressure on the landed troops must be enhanced. The Italian forces have to gain control of the hill in the west to install an artillery observation post there (3). This would open the chance to overlook the landing zones and range in long-range artillery.

The deployment zones and the mission objectives (yellow).

Deployment

We preserved the adverse corners of the board for deployment. Michael's Italiens started from the north-eastern corner while my British entered the battlefield at the south-western end. We agreed to try some idea of "Fog of War" and fielded our units as small slips of paper. Those were marked with signs for infantry, wheeled vehicles and tracked vehicles but nothing else. On the back of course was noted the concrete name of the represented unit. To spy out a unit you have to establish a line of sight to it and pass a test depending on the largeness of the target.
After having set up the brave troops (and additionally some Italians...;-)  ) we rolled for initiative. Initiative is checked every turn and the winning player may decide wether he wants to play first or second. However the British fielded more NCOs than the Italians so they got a bonus and won the roll. I decided to have another cup of Earl Grey tea with my subordinates and presented the first turn to Michael.
The first surprise on this foggy morning...

The beginning of the game:

Italian pressure and British counterblast

Advance and firefight (yellow) during the first turns of the game.

Michael had deployed his 90mm AA-gun near the church. It was able to overlook the Northern part of the battlefield and its huge range was able to even cover the British deployment zone with fire. Therefor he decided to expose the gun and tried to clear up one of my units. He passed the test and I placed my 6pdr ATG on the table. Since I had appointed it "in readiness" I was allowed to shoot first. With trembling hands I parked my cup and took the D20. Fortunately the cold-blooded British gunner kept calm in this pernicious danger. He hit the Italian gun and blast it into pieces!
On the southern flank an Italian truck dashed over the road. It headed towards the cottage in the South and I was afraid that they might to install a strong defensive position there.
The other Italian troops just made smaller movements behind the church to reorganize the northern flank.

The cold-blooded British gun crew destroys the 90mm AA-gun.

Now baton was passed on to the British. I overlooked the battlefield and whished to be able to contact supreme command for a decent air strike. But no chance... The army had to manage the mission on her own. First of all I wanted to avoid that the Italians get into an orderly defense. So pressure on both flanks was the instrument of choice. A Rifle Section sprinted towards the cottage to establish an observation post there. Simultaneously the two Mortar Sections jumped off their Universal Carriers and set up the weapons. The 6pdr ATG stayed back covering the left flank while the Shermans advanced in the center. One of them reached the hedgerow beyond the field and took aim at the truck. The 75mm shell hit the vehicle and killed the driver and two passengers. But the danger was still given because the Italians passed the morale check. Very unusual...

The Sherman hits the Italian Truck and causes severe damage. Meanwhile the mortar prepare to finish the job...

However the British turn ended and initiative was determined again. Since the British won again I decided to play my second turn first. That gave me the unique chance to act twice in a row. While the British advance continued the Rifle Section took the cottage. They ranged in both Mortar Sections and four 3" shells filled the air with a whistling sound. One shell hit the Italian truck directly and the vehicle with the whole squad on the platform was destroyed.
During their turn the Italians tried to put away the counterblasts and tried to regroup. They gathered behind the church and prepared a counterattack for the next turns. To cover this attempt the Carro Commando advanced carefully trying to come into a good position the overlook the plaza in front of the church. He ranged in Italian mortar fire on the Sherman but the impacts skattered too far. No damage caused on the tank.

Midgame:

The Italians try to break out of the pocket

Initiative for turn three was won by the British again. Because the only visible threat was the Carro Commando I decided to pass the right to play first to Michael. As expected the Italians were not prepared for this twist. He continued arranging his troops in cover of the church but he wasn't able to develop a powerful breack out yet. He hid his left flank with smoke when the Semovente dashed through the bushes and attacked the southern flank. I piped down when it turn to the Sherman on the plaza and fired a 105mm shell at him. Fortunately the front plate was thick enough to withstand the impact.

Impressed by this strike the British slowed down their advance. They came to more infantry to support the armoured spearhead. The only significant blow hit the Italian Carro Commando which risked a bit too much. When the mortar shells covered the car in shrapnels its tracks were heavily damaged and one crew member died. The Sherman tried shot the Semovente but didn't penetrate its heavy front armour.

Afterwards the Italians raised even more pressure. The Lancia Lince scout car darted  out of the smoke and ranged in all four Italian mortars on the Sherman. Four heavy shells detonated around the tank and his drive was damaged. For the rest of the game he was limited to go straight forward or backward but he didn't suffer major damage.

The Lancia Lince drives down the road and ranges in mortar fire on the Sherman.

While the British tank crew recovered the Italians brought forward their attack. Defying death two Carri Veloce crossed the road and tried to create pressure on the British infantry on the right flank. Probably the flank would stagger when the Italians were able to run the rifle section away from the cottage since the Mortar Sections and the 6pdr ATG would be uncovered then...

The Carri Veloce bring forward their charge in front of the burning truck... and end up in mortar fire.

So when Michael passed the turn the British faced a severe danger on my right flank. Although the light armoured cars weren't able to hurt the tanks their machine-guns could be hazardous for the infantry, the mortars and the 6pdr ATG. And I didn't know what Michael was still hiding behind the church...

However I decided to put all my eggs in one basket and wanted to go straight for the decision!

The Daimler Mk. II armoured car rushed forward to outflank the Semovente. The 2pdr hit but and damaged the tracks. Not great but anyway the tank was more or less immobilized. Again the British used their 3" mortars and let the shells rain between the Carri Veloce and the Lancia Lince. All three vehicles took severe damage and the two light armoured cars were destroyed. Concurrently the last British charge began. The 6pdr crew attached the gun to their Lloyd Carrier and moved forward. The second Sherman as well as the Bishop rushed along the left flank and headed to the church. Infantry followed as fast as possible.

Ending:

The British enforce the decision

The next Italian turn elapsed nearly without significant events. Because the road was completely blocked with wracks Michael had no chance to reinforce his left flank with vehicles. The Semovente wasn't able to turn because of the damaged track and was blinded by the burning Carri Veloce. An Italian machine-gun section entered the church and laid fire on the advancing British infantry. Combined with Italian mortars they scored 8 casualties and nearly wiped out a full British Rifle Section.

The British advance on both flanks facing resistance of Italian infantry in the church and in the Northern woods.

But the British continued their advance nevertheless. The Daimler Mk. II conducted mortar fire onto the Semovente and a lucky direct hit penetrated the thin top armour and destroyed the tank. 

The British mortar crew recalibrates their weapons to lay fire on the Semovente.... and hit devastatingly.

At the same time the remaining two Rifle Sections advanced in the center of the battlefield and on the left flank. The Platoon HQ follwed. Supported by the second Sherman and the Bishop they broke the Italian resistance in the Northern woods and headed for the open Italian right flank.

British infantry rushing forward...

After these breakthroughs the last turns went by rather softly. The Italians threw their last reinforcements into battle and destroyed the Daimler Mk. II. Despite this they weren't able to spin fortune again. Finally the last remains of the Italian forced retreated...

Conclusion

My first game in 2012 was really fun and we had a great time. Nevertheless Michael wasn't satisfied with the progress of the battle.
He really did his very best but some parameters just went against the Italians:

The Battlefield
 At first glance we thought the Italians might have a great advantage because they were able to cover behind the church and might conquer it as strong defensive emplacement. The game proved that it was more loss than gain. Since the British 6pdr gun was able to overlook the Northern flank Michael tried to carry the battle to the Southern part of the battlefield. After the road was blocked with wracked vehicles it was too narrow there to expand troops.

Technical Advantage
Although both forces completed 750 pts. The Italiens had technical problems. The British were able to field the Sherman tank which has a good armour and a reasonable gun. Most Italian tanks are equipped with outdated 47mm guns or even lighter guns. The only exception is the Semovente SPG which is available with 75mm and 105mm guns. Since only one model was available to Michael he only deployed one of them. Not enough to cover both flanks...
The other heavy anti-tank weapon was the 90mm AA-gun. Dangerous for Sherman and Bishop but lost in the very first exchange of fire...

Tactical procedure
Maybe  in some situations other decisions would have caused better success. The Italians did use too little smoke shells to blind the British forward observers or tanks. Perhaps that would have bought them enough time to advance with the infantry and attacks the British tanks in close combat.

Although Michael was deservedly a bit disappointed I hope he had fun alike. We played in a very relaxed mood and got the game played rather fast. For the next game I wish him better luck and a stronger force...

I hope you enjoyed this review. Albeit I tried to describe the game rather neutrally I wasn't able to leave my involvement behind all the time...
;-)

Game Review 18.02.2012 - Part 1: Order of Battle

(Italian order of battle updated on 21st feb @ 2 p.m.)
Last week has been very quit here. I'm really sorry about that but last Saturday I played my first game in 2012 and the week before was bloody busy. Urgently I had to paint some British Infantry and two Shermans to use them in the game. I'll post some pictures of them next week, but in the next two or three days I'll write a game report about the Saturdays battle.

As usual we used a unpublished, homemade set of WWII skirmish rules. Some dear friends of mine and me started to work on our wargame about 15 years ago and are still updating, changing and re-developing the rules.
However Michael and me decided to play a scenario in Italy 1943. The British were on their advance during Operation Husky and encounter Italian resistance in the outskrits of a small village. We agreed to use forces of medium size which means 750 points in our system.

Here is what I fielded for those points:

Platoon HQ

(49 points)

The HQ is lead by a brave Lieutenant. He carries a Webley Revolver as well as field glasses and is supported by a signaller with wireless equipment (I used the piper miniatur which I really like), a Sergeant with Sten SMG, a 2" mortar team and two Privates with rifles. The section carries some equipment like handgranades and magnetic charges.

The Platoon HQ.

Four Rifle Sections

(4 x 59 points = 236 points)

Although the original TOE stated three Rifle sectionsI included four of them because I had enough points to do so. All four were built up of a Sergeant with Sten SMG, a Private with Bren lMG, a Private with wireless equipment and seven Riflemen. The sections carry handgranades, magnetic charges and field glasses as additional equipment.

Three of the rifle sections. The fourth one is not pictured because I had to borrow it from a friend and gave it back before taking the photos. (the section in the front is the one I painted last week)

Parts of the Support Company

(191 points)

For additional firepower and anti-tank support the rifle platoon got some sections of the support company. I decided to include two 3" Mortar Sections with Bren Carriers (76 points each) and a 6pdr ATG Detachment with Lloyd Carrier (39 points). All three units were commanded by a Sergeant.

Two Mortar Sections with two 3" Mortars each and the 6pdr Detachment. The Lloyd Carrier was borrowed and isn't pictured since I had to give it back earlier.

Armoured Support

(274 points)

Last but not least I added some heavy stuff to support the infantry. A Daimler Dingo (13 points) for fast reconnaissance and a Daimler Mk. II for reconnaissance and taking out light vehicles (41 points). Both were able to range in mortar fire. To support the infantry against dug in enemy troops or fortified emplacements I added a (borrowed) Bishop (25pdr SPG) and to encounter Italian tanks I added two Sherman IIs (89 points each).

The Daimler Mk. II, the two Sherman II, the Dingo (in the game I used a green one) and the Daniel's Bishop.

I hope you enjoyed the first glance at the brave British detachment which faced Italian resistance on Saturday. The point values might not be significant for most of you but maybe you like the pictures and the describtion of my forces.

Here the Italian forces which Michael fielded on Saturday (updated):

• Platoon HQ with Tenente (Lieutnant), Private with wireless set and three other Privates with Rifles and Breda lMG
• three Infantry Sections with Sergente (Sergeant), seven Riflemen and a Private with Breda lMG, the sections carried handgranades, fog granades, magnatic charges and Molotov cocktails
• four 82mm mortars additionally equipped with radio set and Molotov cocktails
• three light armoured cars "L3/35 Carro Veloce" with machine-guns
• a command tank "M. 14/41 Carro Commando" with wireless set for ranging mortar fire
• a SPG "Semovente Medio M. 15/42L da 105/25 "Bassotto"" with 105mm gun
• a medium tank "M. 14/41" with 47mm gun
  
• a light reconnaissance car "Lancia Lince" with wireless set (Italian Daimler Dingo copy)
• an armoured truck "SPA-Viberti AS.42" with 20mm gun
• a "Cannone da 90/53" 90mm AA-Gun (copy of the German 88mm Flak 18/36/37
• a lorry "Carro Unificado Medio Fiat 621/626" for infantry transport or tracking vehicle for the AA-Gun

This evening or tomorrow I'll post some pictures of the battlefield and describe some important scenes of the battle.

British Army painting with "Army Painter" - Part 4 - Finished !

Here's are the quick shaded British!
They're might not win a painting competition but the ratio between time and result is really fine I think. The shiny look is unattractive but they wrote that in the instruction of Army Painter Quickshade and I wanted to cover the with matt varnish anyway so I that doesn't trouble me.

The next evening I did the finishing touches and put some highlights on the edges of the helmet etc. Additionally I painted the hessian tape and I hated it.
After varnishing the figures with matt varnish I finished the bases. I used some sand, pebbles and static gras.

Here is the whole gang:

And some close-ups of some of the guys:

The result is fine I think. The Quickshade's effect is far better than everything I got with other inks and washes. 25 EUR ($ 30) is much for a can of paint. But since it should be enough for several infantry regiments it seems rather fair.
Don't forget, that usual ink comes in much smaller bottles. For example: Vallejo Inks are about 2.50 EUR ($ 3) for 17ml. The Quickshade can holds 250ml. In Vallejo bottles that's about 15 bottles which approximates 37,50 EUR ($ 45).

British Army painting with "Army Painter" - Part 3

Meanwhile I have painted the other colours. Especially Vallejo Russian Uniform on the helmets, Vallejo German Dark Beige for the webbing and a mixture of Citadel Tallarn Flesh and Citadel Elf Flesh. Water bottles and rifles were painted in Vallejo Saddle Brown. I tried to keep the colours a bit brighter than usual because I was afraid that the Quickshade might darken it.

The result is acceptable although I was surprised how long it took to paint those ten guys. Three evenings (about ten hours) !
I've known that I never was a speed painter, but I really expected to be a bit faster.

Yesterday evening I finally inked the miniatures. Now they are still drying (takes 24 hrs.). I'll make some photos this evening and post them tomorrow or Sunday.

British Army painting with "Army Painter" - Part 2

Step 2:
Thank god the British wore throusers and jackets of the same colour. That gave me the chance to apply Vallejo British Uniform by airbrush. In less than half an hour the ten soldiers coated and the airbrush was cleaned. Next time I'll use more slender handles. These are nice to grip but too large to spray from below to get the downside of the figures covered.

Next I let the miniatures dry and started to paint the other colours the very next evening.

British Army painting with "Army Painter" - Part 1

A very busy week is winding me. Lot's of work to do at the office, a daughter that starts to parrot everything, especially words she shouldn't learn as the four-letter-word my wife dropped accidently this afternoon. Viktoria loved it. Additionally there are about two dozen British soldiers to be painted until the Saturday after next because my first game in 2012 is on the horizon and I need some more infantry urgently.

Since I read some good feedback about Army Painter Quickshade being used for Flames of War miniatures I decided to give it a try.
I will paint my brave British Tommies with Vallejo Model Colours and try the dark toned dipping stuff on the afterwards. Unfortunately the dip is pretty expensive but if it saves time it might prove priceless for me...
;-)

Step 1:
First I deflashed the miniatures and cleaned them with some dish liquid and warm water. Afterwards I glued them onto coins as bases with UHU Plus Schnellfest an epoxy-based two-adhesive glue (Great stuff! Too messy for tiny parts but uncredibly strong!). When the glue hardened completely I base coated the figures with a white spray from an unknown manufacturer.
Deflashing took a while but cleaning, gluing and base coating the miniatures didn't last longer than 10 minutes (plus drying and harding).

Since I already finished Step 2 I'll keep this topic updated soon. But for now that is enough since yesterday just turned into today which is a clear sign to go to bed for me. The alarm will sound at 05.30a.m. without any mercy...

British Reenforcements arrived / Britische Verstärkung eingetroffen

Obwohl ich eigentlich noch genug Bausätze im Schrank liegen habe, um erstmal ausgelastet zu sein, konnte ich nicht widerstehen, als ich bei Amazon ein Päckchen der M3 Halftracks von Italeri fand.
Danach war ich schon so lange auf der Suche, denn ich musste sie einfach für meine Tommies haben. Baubericht folgt, sobald ich die Deutschen, die nach wie vor meinen Basteltisch besetzt halten. Ist ja nur noch ein rundes Dutzend...

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Although I got enough kits in my cupboard to spend several days working I wasn't able to resist when I saw a box of M3A1 halftracks on Amazon fpr a really fair price. I had been searching these kits for a long time, because I really needed them for my Tommies.

I'll post a review here after I finished the dozen Krauts that keep my workbench occupied.

M10 Achilles finished ! / M10 Achilles fertig !

British 17pdr S. P. M10 Achilles (Model by Britannia Miniatures)

So... Es ist Zeit, mal die ersten Arbeitsergebnisse für 2012 zu präsentieren:

Mein M10 Achilles !

Das Modell stammt von Britannia Miniatures und ich habe es schon vor einigen Jahren gekauft. Irgendwie lag es immer hinten im Schrank und wurde nie fertig...

Es handelte sich um ein recht einfach (aber schön) gehaltenes Modell. Die Details wie Gepäck, Maschinengewehr, Abschleppkabel, Tarnnetze und die Staukiste habe ich selbst hinzu gefügt. Möglicherweise ist nicht alles ganz korrekt, aber ich habe mich an Bilder aus dem Buch "British Tank Destroyer Achilles" von W. J. Gawrych orientiert. Auf der Platte ist das ohnehin nicht so wichtig.

Das Modell habe ich mit Farben von Vallejo lackiert, mit matten Klarlack versiegelt. und hinterher noch etwas mit Pigmenten bearbeitet.

Insgesamt bin ich recht zufrieden, aber einige Verbesserungsansätze sehe ich schon noch. Vor allem beim Weathering...

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Well then... It's time to present my first results for 2012:

My M10 Achilles !

The model is from Britannia Miniatures and I bought it some years ago. Somehow it rested in the deep of my cupboard and was never finished...

However it's a nice but simple model. I added details like camouflage, M2HB, the storage box and the towing cable.  Maybe not all details are absolutely correct but I looked up some examples in W. J. Gawrych's book "British Tank Destroyer Achilles". For wargaming it should do I think.
I painted it with Vallejo colours and sealed it with matt varnish spray.

Although I'm rather satisfied I know that there are some points to improve. Especially the weathering...

The camouflage net is made of gauze bandage and some chervil.

I made the towing cable of some kind of synthetic threat. The wheel was part of a broken Sherman-kit by Hasegawa.

The markings are largely correct but I had to collect them from other kits since the Britannia kits are delivered without decals as usual for those wargaming manufacturers.