From ByronM:15mm WWII Canadian Infantry & Churchill Tanks (110 points)

From Byron:

This week I decided to get a force together for Chain of Command, which I have played several games of with Curt and with the Fawcett Avenue Conscripts.  I had picked up a pile of 15mm WW2 British (Canadian) figures YEARS ago with the plan in mind to do a landing force for a Dieppe game using Flames of War.  I never got around to it, being stuck on how to actually do the terrain and the buildings of the town.  Therefore they sat.  

Once we started playing around with CoC I got interested in the idea of some Canadian WW2 troopers again and dug them out.  Only to find that all the British I had, were wearing shorts!!!!  Damn, I had picked up 8th army guys and they have sat here for probably almost 10 years!  

Well, I had to come up with something else so figured I would give the Plastic Soldier stuff a try.  So I found and ordered a pack of 5 Churchhills and a pack of British infantry a few weeks back to try them out.  I had heard mixed reviews, but figured at less than $60 for 5 tanks and 150 infantry I would give it a shot anyway.

So, with all of that long story out of the way, here is my first Chain of Command 15mm force.  

There is a platoon of Infantry made up of:
 - Platoon Headquarters with a lieutenant, sergeant, PIAT team, and 2” mortar team
 - 3x Infantry sections, each made up of a Corporal, Bren Team, and 8 riflemen

Overall, I really liked the Plastic Solider infantry, there are a few poses that could use some improvement as they merge the packs into the body awkwardly, but overall they are really nice.  It is 15mm and for the most part you probably won’t even see the few slight things that bugged me.  For 150 figs in a box at the price I picked them up for, they are way better than I expected.  All the detail is there, faces are good, and almost no flash.  Awesome!

There is also a platoon of Churchills which is made up of 4 Mk III’s and a single MK IV.

The tanks impressed me even more.  I had heard that Plastic Soldier company had some issues with soft details, but I saw none of that here.  Everything was crisp and clean. While they were a little work to put together, having about 25 parts a piece, there was very little cleaning required and everything fit perfectly. So while they took a little time to get together it wasn’t really that much more time than a resin/metal kit.  Better yet, they worked out to just over $6 a tank, which I thought was pretty good value for what I got.

I had a lot of fun painting them all up, both the tanks and the infantry, but especially the tanks.  There is just something about 15mm vehicles.  They paint up so insanely fast, and look so awesome with so little effort compared to 28mm vehicles.  These were airbrushed for priming then base colored, then sponged for some chipping, some silver on the chips, a quick wash for some depth, a clear coat, then some pigments for weathering, and then another clear coat. Total time…. maybe 3 hours for all 5, and I think they look ok as is, but may go back and add some grime and rust drips, still haven’t decide. 

Now to get in a Chain of Command game with them!

You've really done an amazing job on these guys Byron. The infantry is excellent but those Churchills are completely brill. That airbrush and weathering technique you've used looks wonderful, especially with the minimal amount of time you put into them. Amazing. 

This platoon of Canadian infantry and their accompanying Churchill tanks will give Byron 110 points. Great job!