Victrix 12mm British Infantry – Part Two

 As promised, here's how I based the Victrix British Infantry figures.

Whilst my usual method of mounting my 10/12mm figures on printed bases incorporating a 7mm dice to indicate hits/lives left would probably suit Rapid Fire rules, I decided to base these more in line with those shown in the Rapid Fire Reloaded rule book - i.e. 2 per square base.

I printed a variety of different sized bases, all with a base thickness of 1mm and a raised lip around the outside edge of 2mm in height.

These I tried with the figures to find which worked the best and I decided on a 17x17mm for two infantry (standing or kneeling), 15x20mm for two prone figures and 20x20mm for crew served weapons and command bases (3 Figures).

I secured the figures to the base with superglue and then built up the base to the level of the raised lip using artist's acrylic paste. I painted these in Vallejo Game Camouflage Green which is a nice summer grass colour.

I wasn't happy with this finish for two reasons; firstly the acrylic paste settled too much when it dried leaving dips in the bases around the figures and secondly the green colour I had chosen didn't provide sufficient contrast for the figures to stand out when viewed on the tabletop.

Back to the drawing board.

I re-textured the bases using Vallejo White Pumice which solved the settling problem. Sufficient contrast was achieved by repainting with Vallejo Iraqi Sand, followed by a Brown Wash.

Once dry, the figures were sprayed with matt varnish on the only dry day we've had for about a month!

The final step was to apply a little Summer Green 2mm static grass.

I'm very impressed with these little figures and have treated myself to a couple of sprues of the German Infantry to match them, I'll post some pictures when I get them painted.

I can see sales of these figures and their associated AFVs getting a big boost when The Lardies finally publish Dave Brown's 'O'Group Rules later this year.

12mm Scale 1967-73 Arab-Israeli Forces for CWC

 Whilst creating my late war armies it got me thinking about some of those post-war conflicts that used a mixture of WW2 and Cold-War equipment.

One that piqued my interest was the 1974 invasion of Cyprus.

A couple of my work colleagues from the 1980-90's had been serving at UK bases when this happened and had many interesting tales from their time spent as part of the UN peacekeeping force.

There weren't many armoured encounters, but those that happened involved some interesting vehicles. On the Turkish side there were M47's and M113's and on the Greek side a handful of T34/85's and some very old Marmon Herrington armoured cars. Could be an interesting excursion?

Similarly, the early India/Pakistan Wars with Centurions taking on M48s and Chaffee's, AMX13's, Shermans and of course the Vickers MBT.

But to start off I decided to go with the Arab/Israeli conflicts of 1967-73. 

Whilst the generic Arab army was made up of mainly straight forward late Soviet WW2 & Warpac vehicles from Bergman's 1-100 files the only unique addition was the 122mm SPG on a T34 chassis that I found elsewhere in Thingiverse.

The Israeli forces however, presented lots of opportunities to try out some simple 3D sculpting!

Obviously the M3 Half track is easy enough to come by, but it offers lots of variations you can add to your army. In my case a 90mm SPG (actually a Pak 40!), a ATGW version with SS10's (Taken from a BRDM1), 120mm Soltan Mortars (from a SDKFz251 mortar carrier) and a 20mm Anti-Aircraft Maxon Turret. All had additional storage added to the vehicle sides.

Other vehicles were found elsewhere on-line like the AMX13 and some were specifically IDF versions that had already been modified and uploaded i.e. replacement Diesel engined M48's and Centurions. I even found a couple of Fast Jets for air support!

Minifigs have provided infantry suitable for the two sides which one day I'll get around to basing......

12mm Scale Late War Allied Armies for BKCII - US Forces

Continuing the very late war theme I have also added a US Army too.

This one consists of;-

• Pershings
• Chaffees
• Hellcats
• M4A3E8 Shermans
• M8 75mm Gun
• M3 Half-Tracks
•  Priest SPGs

The Command Base shown in the picture consists of some Minifigs figures and a M20 Armoured Car.

The infantry bases are all made up of Minifigs US Paras as I thought these looked like they are wearing the newer M1943 Combat Jacket/Trousers. These are nicely sculpted figures needing little cleaning up and quick to paint up.

All these were created from Marco Bergman files that had been sliced up in 3D builder to minimise the cleaning up required and mazimise the detail.

12mm Scale Late War Allied Armies for BKCII - British

I've never actually liked the idea of the Weird World War Two type of game. 

However, the thought of fielding some of the very late war AFV developments and "Paper Panzers" does interest me.

As I started to expand my 12mm forces, I decided to go down this direction for each of the major protagonists.

First up was a British force that comprised;-

• Early Mark Centurions (MkIIIs actually with 20pdrs. If I find a suitable file or have time to design one myself  I may downgrade these to MkIs!)
• Comets
• Cromwells/Challengers
• Sherman M4/Firefly
• Churchill VII/AVRE/Crocodile
• Achilles Tank Destroyers
• Staghound Armoured Cars
• Ram/De-Frocked Priest Kangeroo APCs
• Sexton 25pdr SPGs
• Universal Carriers

These are a mainly Marco Bergman 1-100/1-200 AFV files from Thingiverse, together with the odd extra I have found on-line.

For infantry I've re-purposed some Pendraken Para's that I've had for a number of years, based on printed bases that combine a 7mm dice to mark hits etc.

Looking forward I may try and add things like the "Black Prince" heavy tank or even the "Tortoise" assault gun...... however, I have to draw the line at the TOG!!

Victrix 12mm British Infantry – Part One

 So far, for my 1/130th Scale 3D Printed armour, I have been utilising a mixture of Minifigs and Pendraken 10mm figures based to (Primarily) suit Blitzkrieg Commander rules.

Two new things have appeared on the horizon that have got me thinking of other options for armour games.

1. Rapid Fire Reloaded – quick play rules

2. Victrix new injection moulded 12mm WW2 range 

I shelled out my £5 for the new Rapid Fire rules and was really rather impressed. They are in a very well-produced, full colour, glossy papered pamphlet/booklet. The concept is really a very cut back version of Rapid Fire 2 – i.e., the bare minimum required to give you broadly the same results. The rules include O.O.B. for British & German forces for a Normandy Scenario which is also included at the back of the booklet. Now I’ve always shied clear of Rapid Fire basing before as they tend to put figures in pairs and remove individual casualties…. however, as a confirmed Wargame’s butterfly, this might present me with an excuse to purchase some of the new plastic figures from Victrix?

Internet research has revealed that their figures are packaged in what equates to roughly a company strength with support elements (MMGs, Mortars etc.) – or around 180 figures per box at £27.

This works out about 15p per figure comparing very well to the metal manufacturers. I couldn’t really justify buying two boxes (£54 worth) of toy soldiers so turned to my old favourite…eBay.

Base coat of Khaki plus webbing in Dark Yellow

As I suspected, I was able to purchase individual sprues at a very reasonable £7.95 delivered for one infantry & one heavy weapon sprue.

Weapon woodwork in Leather Brown

When they arrived, I was very impressed as well as surprised just how diminutive they were. They represent late infantry armed mainly with MkIV Lee-Enfields not SMLEs and have the later style respirator case on their hips. IF I had to criticise them in any way it would be for the lack of Bren Gunners. There are only two on the sprue (One prone, one advancing) when there is clearly enough figures for four sections on each infantry sprue.

Metal parts and boots in Matt Black

They are crisply moulded in neutral grey plastic, with no perceivable flash to remove, so zero cleaning up. 

Hands and faces in Flesh Tone

They are reminiscent of the PSC offerings in their poses which I guess is part of the limitation of single piece mouldings. There are a reasonable selection of poses, with many individaul figures and at most only 2 duplicates of any one pose on a sprue. There are 23 infantry figures on the one sprue and a similar number on the heavy weapons sprue that include a MMG team, 3" Mortar Team, 2" Mortar Team, PIAT Team, Sniper, officers and rangefinders, a couple of mortar bomb cases and figures carrying up ammunition for both mortars and MMG. These latter two poses are (for me) probably the least useful but I'll base them up and use them as standard infantry.

Helmets and heavy weapons in Russian Green

The detail and proportion of the figures really is exceptionally good indeed. They are attached to the sprues only through their bases, so it is possible to paint them on the sprues which is a big bonus.

Initially bases were painted Camouflage Green 

Obviously, some of the weapons are a little delicate at this scale so be careful when handling the figures.

Finally the figures were given a brown wash

I’ve decided to paint and base these figures to suit Rapid Fire, so have printed out some simple bases with shallow outer lips to mount them on.

Trying out different sizes to see which best suit the figures

I will then build the up the terrain level the match the figure’s base.

Settled on two sizes for 2 or 3 figures. Will need slightly longer bases to accomodate some of the other prone figures

Painting is quite simple for the British figures as luckily; I still had a small amount of PSC Khaki primer in my rattle can to give them all a base coat. 

The webbing was picked out in Vallejo Dark Yellow. The woodwork on weapons was given a coat of Vallejo Leather Brown and the metalwork and boots Citadel Matt Black.

Helmets and heavy weapons were painted in Vallejo Russian Green and hands and faces picked out in Flesh.

Then an overall coat of brown wash before basing.

I’ll do a part two when the basing is completed.