'O'Group - Too Fat Lardies

 On a whim I purchased these rules to have a look at. For WW2 battalion level wargames my go to rules have always been BKC II and I was curious to see what these have to offer.

I confess I'm still reading them through - personally I find them pretty heavy going. I suspect the author has been limited to a certain page count and this has led to a lot of editting down to the bare minimum. Whilst there are examples they are few compared to some others I've read. I think the quantity of clarification questions on the facebook group is indicative of my experiences.

None of this is helped by the printer's cock-up with the page numbering!

I'm sure I'll get through them and give them a go, but in the mean time I looked at my figure collection to see what I could re-use were I to play the game. The game is also counter heavy. These are available in mdf from TFL but also some nice ones to 3D print out are available on Thingiverse.

My 15mm WW2 figures are based in 3's on 30x30mm mdf and looked a good starting point as each base could represent a section. 

To ease movement I knocked together some 3D printed platoon bases and Command bases for the Companys. For the Battalion Commander base I created a sabot that would hold a dice and a 25x25mm based command group. The rest of my british battalion was made up of a support platoon, anti-tank platoon and tank support.

My collection runs to German opposition, US and Soviet forces so these bases can be re-used for different scenarios.

The figures are a mixture of Forged in Battle, Command Decision and Battlefront.

Team Yankee - BAOR Force

When I first got my Wanhao 3D printer I thought about of producing my own Modern British army in 15mm. In those heady days, long before I'd discovered .stl editing and the joys of heated, large sized printing beds, things were challenging.

Printing tank hulls in one piece, often vertically so they fitted in, was fraught with the chance of failure.

Due to this, I'd reached the point where I only had a few Chieftains and FV432 carriers before I put the project on halt.

To try and resurrect things I bought the Battlefront Mechanised Infantry and Milan teams packs, but they just got painted and added to the display cabinet.

Now with my new printer and 3D Builder software I've been able to finally get there!

I have (like my West Germans) created a force that can be either Chieftain/FV432 or Challenger 1/Warrior based - i.e. pre or post 1984/5. Or it could be a larger force with a mixture of both.

In support I have recce platoons using CVR-T AFVs (Scorpion, Scimitar, Striker, Spartan, Sultan and Spartan MCT) as well as the Wheeled version - Fox Armoured Cars. There's even a random Saladin Armoured Car thrown in for good measure!

For fire support I have Abbot SPG with Stalwart and a Chieftain Marksman AA tank.

I am very pleased with these and now feel enthused to press on with my Warsaw Pact forces.

Team Yankee - M1 Painting

I finished the M1's (Battlefront & Zvezda) in the same finish.

Up until the application of the MERDC (Mobility Equipment Research & Design Command) camouflage the process was identical to the T64's in my previous post.

I chose to finish the in the Verdant Summer version of MERDC so firstly sprayed light green blotches at random.

Then I added Iraqi Sand lines around the outer edges of some of the blotches and did the same with shorter black lines too.

The tracks were apinted light grey and when dry given a liberal coat of Black Wash.

Then when all the details had been added, the recessed areas were given a black pin wash.

Then there was a dry-brush of Iraqi Sand, spray sand along the sides and finally a coat of varnish for protection.

All looking good now they're finished.

Can you spot which are Battlefront and which are Zvezda? Maybe not? Just goes to show a consistent paint job can help different manufacturers kits to blend together quite nicely!

Team Yankee - 15mm T64 Part Two

I painted these tanks up quite simply by firstly given them a white primer coat and then applying a coat of Vallejo Russian Green with the airbrush. Incidentally the airbrush I’m using is a reasonably price PremiAir G35 with compressed air supplied by an electric compressor.

Next I sprayed a coat of Vallejo Sepia Wash to fill the shadows.

Then a dry brushing with a slightly lightened Vallejo Russian Green.

After painting in the details (Tracks, MG, Commander, unditching beam, Mantlet cover etc.) The recessed areas were given a Vallejo Black Pin Wash.

When dry an all-over very light dry-brush with Vallejo Iraqi Sand.

I added simple number decals from an old Dragon kit and sprayed the lower sides with a dusting of Vallejo ModelAir Sand. 

Finally to protect all that hard work a spray coat of varnish.

Team Yankee – 15mm British Mechanised Infantry and Milan Teams

As opposition to my Soviets I treated myself to a platoon of British mechanised infantry and a Milan ATGW platoon.

These are cast white metal figures that considering they are quite newly released, take a little bit of cleaning up before you can paint them.

Once that was done I attached the figures to lolly sticks (from Hobbycraft) with PVA glue and allowed to dry overnight.

They were then spray primed with Army Painter Matt white primer.

At this point my technique for painting British DPM material differs from that described in the Iron Maiden supplement. Closer examination of the DPM material will reveal that the base colour is in fact a sandy colour (from Buff through to Dark Yellow dependent on the amount of laundering) not green as described. The green, red brown & black pattern is printed over this base colour.

I guess the ratio of colours in DPM was somewhere in the order of;-

1. Dark Yellow (30%)
2. Green (30%)
3. Red Brown (30%)
4. Black (10%)

Therefore my base coat was Vallejo Panzer Yellow – in this case the ModelAir version applied with my airbrush.

This was then followed by brush applied green patches (Vallejo US Army Uniform green- a bit like GW Goblin Green)

Then red brown patches (Vallejo Game Colour leather Brown)

After this the ’58 Pattern Webbing was painted Vallejo Grey Green. When new the webbing is a dark green (Almost Vallejo Russian Green) colour. But it rapidly fades in use to a greeny grey shade.

I also painted the rifle sling at the same time (these could be any colour from sand through to dark green dependent on age and material of manufacture). The cloth puttees were then painted Vallejo Khaki.

NB: In the British Army of the ‘80s all troops wore DMS Black Leather boots with cloth wrap-around khaki puttees – however any Light Division units (i.e. Royal Green Jackets, Gurkhas, Light Infantry) were required to dye their's Jungle Green.

The figures were then given an all over coat of Vallejo Sepia Wash.

Once dry, the boots and SLRs were picked out in black together with the bottle top (which pokes out of what I'm assuming is a ’44 pattern pouch? NB: These were non-standard but popular items as they gave quicker access to the bottle than the '58 pattern item).

'44 Pattern Water Bottle Pouch

'58 Pattern Water Bottle Pouch

The black element of the DPM cloth was added at this stage in the form of small black lines here and there. Also the flesh areas were painted and given a flesh wash to add depth. You would be hard pressed to find a British infantryman of this area without his face and hands smeared in camouflage cream. However I chose not to depict this as it makes it look like you've done a bad paint job and forgotten to touch up afterwards!

NB: At this time in history it was not unheard of to find SLRs that still sported the original wooden furniture, or indeed a mixture of wooden stock. pistol grip and black nylon hand-guard.

The helmets as depicted are covered firstly in hessian (cut from a sandbag), then scrim netting and finally strips of different coloured hessian and scrim attached to break up the outline. I painted them Vallejo Military Green and applied a Vallejo Sepia Wash, before dry brushing Vallejo Iraqi Sand and picking out individual strips with Vallejo Khaki.

The Milan firing posts were painted Vallejo Russian Green and then weathered.

The bases came with blanking discs for use with the prone figures, which was nice! These were simply left as they came, painted with cheap acrylics and dry brushed with a lighter colour, before super gluing the figures in place. To get a good bond I score the base surface with a scaplel first.

Nice additions to the collection and not badly priced – in the case of the Milan Platoon £7.20 (at Firestorm) for 20 figures + Bases. Which is comparable in cost to say Peter Pig figures.

Just a coat of varnish to apply and some flock and they'll be finished.

Team Yankee New Plastic Soviets – Painted Part Two

I decided to start the basing with the support weapon bases. To accommodate the prone AT4 (Fagot) launcher figures I felt it best to level the areas where they’d be glued down. I did this with a smear of acrylic artist’s paste and left this to dry overnight.

Now I’m new to Battlefront’s pre-holed bases and naively thought the individual figure bases would fit exactly in the holes. Sadly the bases were just a bit smaller than the holes, leaving a noticeable gap. So having glued the support weapon assistant figures in place using superglue, I decided that I’d have to cover the bases with some sort of texture to hide these gaps.

I decided to use my old favourite – Vallejo’s grey pumice – for this purpose.

Where the prone figures were to be placed I left the surface free of texture to ensure a good bond and avoid them looking like they were perched on top rather than lying amongst the terrain. To ensure this happened I drew around the figures with pencil before applying the paste

.Spreading it on with a fine artist’s pallet knife it looks like snow as you apply it, but dries almost transparent.

All the other bases were coated with Vallejo’s grey pumice too.

When all was dry (overnight again), the surface was painted using a cheap craft acrylic paint from Hobbycraft – “Coffee Bean”. This was almost a perfect match for Battlefronts plastic bases. Once dry, I dry-brushed the surface with Iraqi Sand. Then finally the chamfered base edge was picked out in a lighter brown.

Once everything was completely dry, I sprayed firstly Army Painter Satin Varnish (to protect my paint job) followed by – once dry – Army Painter Anti-Shine Matt Varnish (to give a realistic finish).

The last job was to add a mixture of summer green and autumn flock.

Great miniatures can’t wait to try them out!

Team Yankee – 15mm T64 Part One

I had some time to spare last night so thought I’d knock together one of the three T64’s that came with the Hammerfall Starter Set.

The kit is moulded on a single sprue in dark green plastic. The parts look crisp, flash free and finely detailed.

There’s a basic exploded assembly diagram in the quick start guide which will suffice. But I’d guess there’s a more detailed version on their website (perhaps even a YouTube video)

.The drawing gives no indication what order to do things in (Perhaps I should have looked on line!) so I decided to work from the ground up, starting with the hull.

The track units are one piece and really well detailed. You cannot get them mixed up as their location blocks are off-set to suit each side.

You can add the rear plate at this stage as it is positively located, and fix the un-ditching beam while you’re at it.

The hull top fits nicely and is very well detailed. There are some optional fuel drums to add to the rear as well as the rubber side skirts – which can be left off if you wanted to. Not shown in my photos are the mine plough attachments which you could fit as a further option. Nice touch!

Having completed the hull, it’s time to move on to the turret assembly. There are optional commander’s cupolas – open/closed – and (like the M1 Abrams) a spare AAMG included on the sprue.

The rear of the turret is adorned with stowage box and snorkelling tubes. The front has smoke dischargers – these differ on the left and right, but you cannot go wrong as there is a recess that will only accept the correct part.

I opted to add one of the six tank commander half-figures that came with the set. They are all larger than the opening in the cupola (maybe they were designed for the T72 or BMP models?) but it’s an easy enough job to trim the figure’s waist until he is a snug fit.

Altogether a very nice model. Goes together well, is nicely detailed and captures the look of the rear vehicle. 

 Here's a couple of photos alongside the opposition.