From GregB: 15mm & 1:285 scale WWII German Armour (42 points)

Greg has been bitten with the WWII bug as of late and so sends in this fine group of German armour in both 15mm and 1:285th scales.

These two tanks are 15mm Panzer IVs from Battlefront, one .

From Greg:

'One is a Mark IV F1 (with the short 75) and the other is a Mark IV F2 (with the long 75, probably my favourite tank).  These were "orphan" models I found while rummaging in my pile.  I had probably worked out some way to include them in my DAK forces (http://wpggamegeeks.blogspot.com/2009/01/21st-panzer-reports-objective-captured.html) back when I was originally getting them going, but either forgot about them, or lost them or who knows what.  Anyway, there they were in the storage box, complete with black primer, so I worked on them last night while the Jets were on TV.  I love the Mark IV panzers, especially the F2/G version with the long guns (but prior to the shurtzen plates), and they will be fun to use while blasting the Desert Rats on the table. 

I felt really rusty painting these up - I think the basecoat was too dark, and I didn't put enough between that and the Kommando Khaki, so the line effect etc is kind of jarring.  On the other hand, I imagine the desert was a bit rough on any paint job....

Another challenge I have with these models is getting the tactical numbers on the turrets.  The turrets have lots of doors, etc on the side that make it tricky for the otherwise very handy battlefront decals.  I used microsol to soften the decals, so at least I avoided too much silvering.  But they still look strange.  In hindsight, I should have just tried to steady my hand and paint them on.  Oh well - something for next time.'

Now, for the 'Spearhead' rules that we often play to represent large-scale operations, Greg shows us two battalion-level formations he's done-up. 


From Greg:

'A pair of RSOs with Pak 40s, and 10 Panzer IV Gs.  The gun crews are from Adler, and the rest are GHQ.  The guns are leftovers sitting around in the pending box.  The Panzers were birthday presents.  I put a bit of a brown camo pattern on a few of them and left the rest straight up panzer yellow, ready to roll into Kursk. 

The 10 models are sufficient to represent a panzer battalion in Spearhead.  The HQ model is on a round base.'

Next up...


'10 Hetzers from GHQ. As with the other Panzers, these would be sufficient to represent a late war panzer jäger battalion in Spearhead, with the model on the round base representing the HQ.

The detail and quality of the GHQ castings is amazing, but I wish they would consider brass turrets or gun barrels for the future....'

This group will give Greg 42 points. Can't wait to see these on the tabetop (burning or otherwise)!

From TimB: 28mm Greek Civilians and Ancient Light Horse Skirmishers (40 points)

From Tim we have a great set of Greek civilians along with a stand of light cavalry.

All of these 28mm figures are from Black Tree Design.

These will give him 40 points. Next up for Tim will be more Anglo-Saxons in preparation for his upcoming DBA campaign weekend.

From ChrisP: 28mm Greek Hoplites for SAGA (60 points)

Chris sends in this great group of 28mm Greek Hoplites for use with his brilliant mod for SAGA.

From Chris:

'Here we have 12 Greek Hoplites from Immortal Miniatures. Transfers came from Immortal too, and were an absolute pain as they had to be trimmed to fit (naturally I realised this after trying to do a couple at once)

They were really good to paint, lovely miniatures. I really like the whole Greek golden age- I did a whole uni degree in Classics because I liked it so much! The Odyssey and the Illiad were read many, many times during the degree!

I have based them up for the SAGA ruleset, a local guy here has written up some rules for using SAGA for the Trojan War, we think that it will represent the Warlord with a warband style rules quite well. (rules are here http://roughwotr.blogspot.co.nz/2012/01/saga-trojan-war.html and here http://roughwotr.blogspot.co.nz/2012/01/saga-achaeans.html). I am really looking forward to getting into it, we have 3 factions prepared so far, Myrmidons, Trojans and Ithacans. I will be using the Myrmidons, the famed warriors of Achilles. So what I have here is 1.5 points of Warriors, the next 12 are already on the painting desk! After the next unit of Warriors, then it will be time to paint Achilles himself, as well as his retinue of elite hoplites!

These guys are the "green" unit- all tied together with a green colour so I can tell the units apart on the battlefield. I am also preparing some sabot bases so I can use these hoplites in Impetvs.'

Very creative modification, Chris, and a great looking unit of hoplites as well. I look forward to trying your ideas out.


These 12 hoplites will give Chris 60 points. Nice one!

From RayR: 15mm French & Indian Wars Limbers, Caissons, Wagons and Guns (678 points)

Ray sends in this very large and impressive assortment of caissons, limbers, wagons and artillery for his French and Indian Wars collection.

The 15mm wagons, carts and caissons are from Hallmark.

Ray is missing three guns from this British artillery group. He's wondering if Fran is somehow behind them having gone AWOL...

Here is the French artillery with their distinctive red-painted limbers and guns.

All the 15mm limbers and horses are from Essex whereas the guns are a mixture of Essex, Frei Corps and QFR.

There is no doubt about it, this was a HUGE submission from Ray. There are 86 horses, 46 limbers, wagons and caissons and 24 guns. All tallied this give him 678 points! EEP! Wow, excellent work, Ray! This firmly places Ray in second place - well done!

From DaveD: 28mm Napoleonic French Mamelukes (175 points)

Dave sends in this brilliant unit of French Mamelukes that have benefited from his exhaustive and painstaking conversions.

From Dave:

'These are 28 mm Bicorne Miniatures - a little know gem of a figure. The horses are by Bicorne, Connoisseur and Firing Line. Another of my full OTT converted units. check out the IMG1223 B4 image against 1229 , of the rearing horse and guy with a pistol in hand and sword hanging from his wrist.  Before and After the soldering iron the dremel & the brush!

IMG1223

IMG1229

Each rider is unique with arm and head repositions with soldering and twisting. Each set has reins added into the riders hand. The banner on the trumpeter is from brass sheet soldered on . The standard is made from milliput and solder. In addition these guys had extra detailing o the horses as they had tassels added from the chest straps of the horses - these again are created with the soldering iron. All together it took me 3 full days just to convert the castings before any painting. - Phew...' 

'Phew' is right! These are beautiful, Dave! 

These Mamelukes will give Dave a base of 100 points, but like his last heavily converted unit I am awarding 75 extra points for the extra effort he's put into them. Well done Dave!