From RayR: 'I'm a Lumberjack, and I'm Okay' 15mm French & Indian Wars Quebec Militia

Well, these are much, much better than 'Okay'. Ray sends in these twenty Quebec militia to add to his French & Indian Wars collection.

 These are 15mm Essex castings.

Essex currently does not make officers for these models so Ray's going to have to bodge something together to get that sorted out.

These twenty lads will add 60 points to his total! Well done, Ray!

From Curt: 28mm Norman Archers (60 points)

Have you ever had those figures that just sit on your table, half-completed for months on end? You know, the ones that you started with the best intentions of cracking off in a few days? But the days turn to weeks, the weeks to months, and as time wears on you slowly begin to loath them. Sometimes these same figures act as that inexplicable 'block' where you can't move on to get other stuff done because these are just sitting there, staring you in the face. For me its been these freakin' Norman archers...

Its not that I hate the figures, because I don't. They are nice Gripping Beast castings. I dunno what it is, but I can tell you one thing: I'm certainly happy to see the backs of them! I was hoping to do a little more detail work on a few but I really can't bear it. One good thing that came from working on these is that I experimented using GWs 'Devlan Mud' as a alternate to the AP Dip effect. I admit I was a bit heavy-handed with its application but I liked the effect it gave on the whole. I certainly appreciated the quick drying time as I usually like to motor-along when I'm painting. I think I'll give it another go with an upcoming group to see how it works without me being so angry.

So, sixty excruciating points for me... 

Now, on to other things. I think I have a hankering for some Colonial Brits and perhaps some 20mm Vietnam stuff for 'Force on Force'...

From MilesR: 15mm WWII German Nebelwerfer and Jagdpanther (86 points)

Its been a while since we heard from Miles but he's been very busy supporting his son in his robotics competitions. (So when 'SKYNET' becomes self-aware you all know who to blame...)

First up is a battery of three German Nebelwerfer rocket launchers and crew. These are 15mm castings from (I believe) Battlefront.

Next is that perennial favourite: a German Jagdpanther. This too is a 15mm Battlefront model. Miles has done a very nice job with the late-war camouflage.  

...and the preferred parking space for any discerning heavy panzer commander, a wrecked building -again,  preferably one without a basement...

These guys will give Miles 86 points. Nice to have you back, Miles!

From ScottB: 15mm WWII German Gepanzerte Grenadiers in SdKfz 251s (Part II), (400 points)

Scott makes up for time and sends in this massive and beautifully executed submission of  twenty (20!) German halftracks painted in mid/late-war camo.

These are all 15mm Plastic Soldier Company models. They will be used for a variety of duties, from towing PAK anti-tank guns to serving as command halftracks. 

From Scott:

Painted in the usual acrylics - base coat sprayed from BF Spray paint tin

Middlestone. Camo pattern hand painted on; Vallejo Luftwaffe green and GW

Dark Skin. Washed in a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Black / Dark brown Wash.

Highlighted with drybrush of Foundry 9b ( a mid cream colour).

Tracks painted GW Dark Skin, drybrushed 50/50 mix of Gunmetal and dark grey.

Washed in 50/50 vallejo Black/Dark brown. Heavy drybrush Vallejo german camo

brown for mud.

Crews and passengers painted separately and glued in to place.

Same for Stowage. Decals by DOM.

Again, beautiful work, Scott. Your camo turned out excellent - I really like the muted, semi-opaque tones you achieved with it.

This group of vehicles, with their crews, will give Scott a very impressive 400 points. Fabulous job!

Guest Post: Tip Of The Spear(head) - 6mm WW2



The Germans roll out toward the Soviet lines.

Hello once again to everyone on the Analogue Hobbies blog. I recently visited founding conscript Curt C in Regina for a weekend jam-packed with gaming. The weekend's main feature was a massive 28mm Napoleonic game (see here for the report and pictures), but we also sat down to play Spearhead, the wonderful WW2 division-level rules.  The scenario was set in the opening days of the Kursk offensive in the summer of 1943 on the Eastern Front, and pitted the elite troops of the Grossdeutschland Panzer Grenadier Division against the vast defensive reserves of the Red Army.

German forces pre-game.

"Quality of Quantity" for the Russians.

View of the table pre-game.  The German entry is at the top right of the photo, and the Russian table edge is at the lower left.

The table was a 6' x 6' set up, bisected by a road and a rail line, and also a small stream. Some areas of rough going dotted the table, along with a couple of hills and a few forested areas/copses.  Built-up areas were limited to a number of collective farms and one-sector town.  The Germans had 20 turns to exit the majority of their battalions (they had four) from the opposite edge.  Any other outcome was a Russian victory.  Curt took command of the Panzers while I took control of the Russians.

Stug IIIs give the German foot sloggers some armoured support.

Russian 76.2mm guns take defensive position behind the rail line.

The Russians got to start two infantry battalions with some attached AT guns dug in on the table.  They had voluminous reserves in the form of two Guards tank brigades, an independent heavy tank regiment, and an independent heavy assault gun regiment. They also had slim hopes that the Red Air Force could intervene.

The Russian infantry await the German assault.

The German forces were comprised of two panzer battalions, a gerpanzert panzer grenadier battalion and a battalion of regular grunts.  They had support from off-table 10.5cn howitzers and the Luftwaffe.

This was a variation on a scenario I last played in 2007 with the gang here in Winnipeg.  I switched it up to better reflect the elite status of the GD Panzer Grenadier division, giving them more Mark IVs in place of the late model Mark III panzers that filled the Panzer battalions of most other line units in this period.  Besides I had just painted a bunch of Mark IVs and wanted to get them on to the table...

One of the aspects of Spearhead I enjoy so much is how well it reflects the relative flexibility (or lack thereof) of the different nations' command and control.  Curt put the German flexibility to good use, creating four different Kampfgruppen by cross-attaching companies among his battalions, so all the tanks had infantry support, and the infantry had some big guns to help. The Russians can't really do this kind of thing (or they can't in 1943).  On the other hand, you have lots and lots of them.

Germans prepare to run over the Russian infantry.

The German engineers punch a hole in the Russian lines.

Curt's troops demolished the on-table Russian infantry with clinical precision.  The Russian infantry gave the German mechanized troops a little trouble at first, but once the German engineer platoons got involved (hello, flamethrowers) it didn't last long.  The destruction of the initial Russian forces brought the reserves on to the table.

Here come the Russian reinforcements....

A Russian tank brigade races to engage the Germans.

Light tanks (aka "ablative armour") lead the Russian advance.

KV-1s rumble into battle.

It starts to go pear-shaped - T-34s fan out, but can't find the range...perhaps all of the burning wreckage obscures the view...

The tide of Russian armour looked dramatic, but it simply did not have the range needed to match the gun power of all those 75mm (and a few 88mm) guns on the German side.  The high-velocity 75s engaged at a range band the Russians could not match, and the Russians were not able to get very close in order to counter-punch.  The steady stream of visits from the Luftwaffe did not help. And while the KV-1 might have been scary in 1941-42, it was pretty lame in 1943. Even the ISU-152s had only a pop-gun range with their weapons.

Luftwaffe makes a visit - the KV-1s are no match for the twin 37mm cannons on the wings.

ISU-152s deal a small check to the Germans.

This Russian brigade is on fire - but not in the good way...

End result was a ton of burning Russian tanks, and a win for the German side.  The Russian did achieve a Thorpian Moral Win with a last-turn air strike by the Sturmoviks that mowed down most of a heavy tank company, but the fact is the Russian defences were going to need a lot more "depth" to stop the GD Panzer Grenadiers that day....

While the game went a little pants for my side, it was a real thrill to play another big Spearhead game.  The rules are outstanding.  Sadly the scenario books available for the game are chock full of unplayable encounters (a problem not limited to Spearhead, unfortunately), but the rules themselves are simple, elegant and fun.

Thorpian Moral Victory as the IL-23s light up some Tiger Tanks....

Big thanks to Curt C and his wife for their incredible hospitality in Regina.  Can't wait to game with the group out west again!

Before I leave, one more quick note.  I believe Juan M had asked at one point for a photo comparing these models to a coin - here is a shot of some stuff beside a Canadian dime.

From top to bottom - a Russian 76.2mm gun team, a German Pz IVH, a German Pz IVG, a German Tiger 1E.