All,
Well, if you thought my British force for NW Europe is big, just wait until you see this! Like the Brits, this force is set up along the T/O&Es of the Rapid Fire Reloaded rules, with a three-battalion infantry regiment and then various and sundry supporting vehicles, guns, and armor. This force is large, but only because I did my best to keep one set of infantry to serve throughout the entire war. So, rather than a gray uniform/helmet for early war and camo for later war, I went with a gray-green uniform with camo helmet covers (kind of a PanzerGrenadier Grossdeutschland look, maybe?), hoping that help me slide by from the beginning to the end, and then I took some liberties with softskins and other support weapons and painted them a dark green, as a sort of compromise between dark gray and dunkelgelb. I hope it works, and would love to hear what you think, good or bad.
As with the British, I did a lot of painting myself, but I also bought a considerable amount of stuff already painted (particularly from my buddy AJ) to help round it out.
Enough yakking, let's take a look!
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-spSwUNg3QHA/YM62nyChyPI/AAAAAAAA6S4/3RsImmVIQe8QIlE2yKFGJjBVaiGrher0gCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/IMG_5967.JPG)
Here it is, the whole mess. The infantry, softskins, and various support weapons are in the big box at left, early war armor in the box at top right, and late war armor in the box at bottom right.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3sYXpEZr-FI/YM63qmKhOxI/AAAAAAAA6UU/RbCWCDGK33cAj97WQeXaThA3jN8SaYO7gCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/IMG_5985.JPG)
Some German rifle stands, showing the gray-green uniforms with camo helmet covers.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9vgVkjBRlro/YM64SUwlfsI/AAAAAAAA6VQ/CGgKuwWWgmcnpyfJU-EiwgnMVcqrYNBTACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/IMG_5993.JPG)
A pair of the dreaded '88s.'
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ll_JOMjiKKc/YM64l24oq-I/AAAAAAAA6V8/ZaY8SUazfdIoO98wRYt63E3EHoyxiWV1gCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/IMG_6003.JPG)
Motorcycle troops.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wi6dBsUTvTk/YM66BBnjNUI/AAAAAAAA6ZY/6ifhuq2SdsE3Mc-FmfLOBzE8RyxGUU3IACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/IMG_6043.JPG)
A short-barreled Panzer IV. This was the first time I tried doing muddy tracks and using makeup brushes for dry-brushing, and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TqrjgbRVIV4/YM66GjlgLXI/AAAAAAAA6Zs/Je0Qm8iHt_AMGFUVsasWsoDchNlm-IY5wCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/IMG_6046.JPG)
A trio of Tigers. Man, I have no idea how I got so many Tigers, but I've got three in gray and three in dunkelgelb camo. In any case, more than I should ever need, hopefully not more than my Allies can handle.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ac9H3uTgjJQ/YM66Tss5xhI/AAAAAAAA6aE/7sZYTOAfD8ks8GG_o7Anp5baq6mx888AACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/IMG_6053.JPG)
A Sdkfz 250 for mid- to late war.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zSiIejq7cNU/YM67COXSs-I/AAAAAAAA6b0/MOX7LtoLO48d28Rn5Ey-Bu_ytSKNyqEtwCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/IMG_6074.JPG)
A pair of Jagdpanthers.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Prf1nGqphks/YM63Uos6KZI/AAAAAAAA6Tg/zolQfJKeuPcF1_Ym13vzvnjVaaDKGj8-gCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/IMG_5972.JPG)
Stuka!!!
To see a bunch more photos, please check the blog at:
https://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2021/06/15mm-wwii-germans-for-early-through.html
So, whaddaya think? Worthy of hitting the table and (hopefully) getting its ass whipped? I certainly hope so ;) It's been a long time coming, but I'm finally ready to play, now I just need to hop in with both feet, and it's weird, I'm kind of scared, like I don't know where to start. Which, if you follow my blogs, you know that's not typically an ailment that afflicts me, I usually hop in and hit 20 to 50 fights before I even realize what happened. Part of the problem is that I want to follow a particular British unit (brigade, probably) through the fighting in NW Europe, but then I think, "well, if I'm going to do that I should start in France 1940, then do some North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, before they hit the beach on 6 June 1944." Sound crazy? Yeah, it is, but I've already found myself looking for some Vickers light tanks, A10s, and Matildas in green (already got'em in desert colors). It's definitely a sickness...
I still have some US troops and vehicles and German FJ, all for North Africa, to post in the coming days. Anyway, hope all is well, and please drop me a line to let me know what you think.
V/R,
Jack
:-bd =D> :-bd
The mud definitely works :)
Blimey Jack you have been busy 🙂
Those 88s look very dangerous and theres lots of Tigers and other stuff to give your allied tank crews paws for thought.....j
Very zippy !! :-bd
Cheers - Phil. :)
More nice stuff
Thank you gentlemen, I appreciate it!
Glad to hear that regarding the mud, Paul! It certainly makes painting so much faster and easier.
And yes, some very dangerous gear there, Pierre, but I have every confidence in the British, Canadian, Polish, and American forces' ability to eject the bastids from NW Europe. Primarily Normandy and Holland, of course ;)
V/R,
Jack
Brilliant
Thanks, Will/Lemmey/Speedy!
V/R,
Jack