Irene, Irene, Irene. The word is "Irene".

Ah, life can be interesting. Of course interesting is rarely pleasant, but it beats plodding along day in and day out. After closing my practice, going through a divorce, getting ready to move abroad, I finally got the urge to paint little plastic (or metal; I am not particular), sniff styrene glue and write on this blog. It's been a year, but what a year. I hope this is as bad as it gets.

So, Irene is NOT the name of my ex-wife. If you have seen "Black Hawk Down" (and if you haven't seen it, go read another blog, one that does not have pictures of toy soldiers in it), "Irene" was the "go" codeword for the combined Ranger/Delta operation in Mogadishu that resulted in a monumental screw-up, a cool movie and an even cooler book.

Having gotten a bunch of Cold War Americans (Esci and Revell) and some Somalis (Caesar and Elhiem metals), I decided to paint me some Rangers. I started off with one chalk: two fireteams, an M-60 team and a chalk leader. Each fireteam is composed of one grenadier (M-16/M-203 combo), one SAW (M-249), fireteam leader and rifleman. The M-60 team is gunner and assistant gunner. All in all, 11 figures. I started them off sometime in 2013 and finished them off yesterday:

Fireteam 1:

M-60 Team:

Fireteam 2:

 Chalk Leader:

I had some problems with the flat coat (frosting in a couple of figs) but I am too lazy to repaint the area. The Mog was dusty anyways. I primed the Elhiem Delta teams as well, but it might be a couple of weeks before I get around to painting them. I've found most of the stuff I need for Mogadishu (Humvees, Blackhawks, Somalis, Rangers, Delta, Blackhawks, Blackhawk crews) except Little Birds. There are kits for it out there, but I haven't seen one in Athens yet.

That's all from Athens for now. Tune in for another update soon (I hope).

Bridge Across the River Die

It's been nine months since I last wrote here. Wow! You can have a kid in this amount of time. Well, real life conspired to keep me away (moving to a new home, camera knocked out of action during move, my personal computer shortly after). Still, I've kept up with painting plastic crack and here is a celebratory come-back with nothing less than a battle report. My opponent was none else than Thanos, the extremely talented modeler of the Miniatures and Terrain blog.

Although my primary areas of interest are fantasy and WWII wargaming, I recently dabbled in Napoleonic wargaming. Ah, yes, the time when real men got their hair curled and wearing pink, green and riding boots was a fashion statement. And lace. Let's not forget the tons of lace and pipping you'll have to paint. So I picked a rule system that is light on rules and even lighter on figures, Song of Drums and Shakos from Italian Ganesha Game. SDS uses the Song of Blades and Heroes engine which is rules-light and forces you to make some interesting tactical decisions on allocating actions to your miniatures. Being a skirmish game, it uses a small number of figures, typically no more than 20 per side. It took me about two months (including the normal break times for work, the Mistress complaining and the Young Master falling ill) to complete all the figures and terrain for this particular game. I'm pretty sure that someone could do it in half the time though. Although the figures used were 1/72, I used the scales for 15mm figures, mainly because my current gaming table is 60cm wide (normal playing area for 1/72-28mm figs is 90cmX90cm).

The scenario details are as follows. A group of French line infantry (together with their officer and two members of the Old Guard) have been stationed in an old farmhouse, next to a bridge. Their orders are simple: hold the bridge against British probes. A small force of British troops (five Riflemen and their officer together with some center company infantry with their officer and NCO) have been ordered to force a crossing, essentially conducting a reconnaissance in force. The south side of the map is covered in woods, except for the road leading to the bridge and the north side is essentially open, other than the farmhouse and its low wall. Thanos decided to use the British and that left me to defend the honor of the Emperor and France.

Turn I found the redcoats split into three groups. The center company infantry was positioned on the road leading to the bridge, three riflemen and their officer on the right flank and two more riflemen on the left flank. All groups advanced cautiously, with the center company NCO being a little more zealous and running to the top of the bridge. The French had one of their line infantry together with the grenadiers hold the north end of the bridge while the rest of the fusileers holding the south wall of the farm. The officer was behind the line of fire able to command both groups. The flag-bearer was close by acting as a rally point should things go sour. The French line infantry on the south wall fired on the Rifles skirmish line, forcing one of them back, deeper in the cover of the copse. They reload. One of the  Old Guard fires on the foolhardy NCO, forcing him to drop for cover and reloads.

In Turn II the British start using the longer reach of their rifles. The British riflemen on the left fire, missing one of the grenadiers. More determined rifle fire on the British right forces two of the French infantry to drop for cover behind the stone wall. The British CO however rolls snakeyes leading to a changeover. The French have had enough of this pesky rifle fire. The Grenadier that got shot returns fire, killing one of the riflemen on the left and then  reloads. One of the line infantry moves from the south wall to the bridge, but the French officer also rolls double "1"s leading to a turnover.

On the beginning of Turn III, the British right flank advances, leaving the tree line. The center squad of redcoats advances and crosses the bridge at a run. The NCO manages to stand up. The rifleman on the left flank fires and misses. The French decide to fight the British hand to hand. One of the redcoats is killed and one is pushed back, with the Grenadier following on his advantage.

The British CO correctly deduces that this is the turn that will make or break the battle. He advances and fights hand to hand against the French. End result, he and one of the infantrymen are wounded, forcing a morale roll for the NCO and remaining redcoat on the bridge. They both fail and decide to run like crazy (wise decision). On the French left, the infantry stands up behind the stone wall and fires at the Rifles officer. After three shots, the officer falls wounded and the troops decide to fall back running, except for a brave fellow who stands his ground.

End result: 4 British dead  and wounded (including both officers), not even a scratch for the French. This was a pretty solid win for the French. In the post-game discussion with Thanos, we determined that he would have been better off moving his entire skirmish line of riflemen on his left flank and used it to fire from a defiladed position to the French holding the north end of the bridge. That, or some cavalry, which is next on the painting block.

That's all for now from sunny Athens.

Rot scheint die Sonne!

Summer has truly set in over here in Athens, so I decided to continue with another project that is both Greek and summery; a Fallschirmjager battalion (later to be expanded to a complete regiment). I have not lost interest in my BEF project, but with the political and financial situation in Greece being what it is, I cannot find all the necessary components. I'm done with infantry and most of the arty, but vehicles are a problem for now, especially my Panzer companies.

Although we are spoiled for choice when it comes to late war Fallschirm, there are only two sets that are suitable for the early days of the war and some of the greatest moments of German paratroopers (Norway, Belgium and of course Crete): Airfix and Revell. Both are out of production but since there is a set of Airfix available, and a good one at that, there was really only one choice. I sourced three boxes and set to make my battalion. The Blitzkrieg Commander rule book gives a simplified TOE giving me 3 companies (9 platoons), 2 MG platoons, one mortar platoon, one assault engineer platoon and of course the command element.

 The command element was a simple thing to put together. The main problem is that there is only on command figure (but two radios) per box, so I might need an extra box or two down the road. One commander, one radio operator and one wounder paratrooper and done. 

The platoon stands include a variety of the lovely poses included in the set. This was one of Airfix's better efforts and together with the Mountain Troop set, one of my favorites.

The MG stands were a bit of a problem, since there are no suitable figures. The only ones that come close have the FG42, a weapon that was (obviously) not used in Crete. Not being able to scratchbuild a MG34, I did what I used to do back in the day; I simply ignored the fact. Yes, it's not historically accurate, but quite acceptable for me. 

I scratch built an 80mm mortar and modified one of the figures to look as if it tossing a mortar bomb down the tube. Italeri has some mortars in their newest Fallschirm set, but the size and style looked off. Some sprue and plastic card, two pins and it was ready.

The assault engineer platoon was a bit more complicated as there was nothing that would even resemble a flamethrower in the set. Since this battalion was going to Crete, where there was little in the ways of mine removal and forcing troops out of concrete bunkers, I simply used 2 suitably energetic figs with Schmeissers.

There are other sundry elements in the TOE (a battery of 75mm infantry guns and a battery of 28mm antitank cannons) but I don't think these made it to Crete and either way I'd have to buy metal for these, defeating the spirit of the entire project.

That's all for now from sunny and hot Athens and the Greek Geek household.

German Early War Battalion Support

In addition to the three companies of line troops and the heavy company of machineguns and mortars, I've added some support elements. These were sourced from the excellent Zvezda mini-sets, with some additions from the venerable Esci Wehrmacht.

Here are three platoons of combat engineers. In order to differentiate different classes of troops, I've opted for basing two instead of three figures per base, so that it is readily apparent that these guys are special (and thus a great target for artillery fire). The two bases are mine detector teams, using one figure from the Zvezda set and one from the Esci Germans. The Zvezda miniatures are exceptional and although more petite than their Esci counterparts, they look OK on the same base. The third base is an Esci flamethrower and a simple infantryman.

Anti-aircraft support (where's the bloody RAF poms?) is a 20mm gun from Zvezda. Not much to say, except that the fit is so tight that I prefer to assemble the model and then run some Tamiya extra thin cement along the join lines. Capillary action takes care of the rest. This will probably spend more time shooting at infantry than planes.

The ubiquitous early war doorknocker provides the battalion with some much needed anti-tank firepower. Granted, it won't penetrate a Matilda, but other than an 88, nothing else is available 'till they invade Russia. Again the model is from Zvezda, with an extra crew from the Caesar 150mm howitzer.

Finally these guys. Nope, they aren't Wehrmacht. Any idea where they're heading?

That's all for now from cool, evening Athens.

German Early War Battalion

I've finally found some time to write up on my projects. Real life and the renovation of my old apartment have taken up too many hours of the day for me to blog. Still, I've been painting steadily and my early WWII German battalion is finally complete. It's been complete for a while now, but SWMBO has had other plans for my time. Kitchen appliances, bathroom fittings, you get the idea. Anyways, back to the figures. I used classic Esci and Revell for these. The Esci figures (reboxed by Italeri) were as perfect as when I used to buy them in my (very early) teens. The Revell stuff had a lot flash. I did not remove all of it, lazy sod that I am. After lots and lots of Feldgrau they were ready.

  Here are all nine platoons. The figures mix well together and have great detail as all of us know. There are still enough figs left over for another two companies or so.

 

The machinegun platoons were Esci and Zvezda. Zvezda are a bit more accurate with their sustained fire tripods but I like the old-fashioned stuff as well. 

  

Mortar platoon is Zvezda. Great little kit, not at all fiddly.

  

And  finally the command stand. All Esci. Radio man, officer (for once showing some common sense and wearing a helmet) and NCO.

This was a surprisingly pleasant experience. I thought that I'd be bored to death after all this feldgrau, but it was very zen in a way. No worrying about what design to paint or which colours to use. Just plain old field grey. Eventually all of these guys will get transport. I'm thinking about a mix of 251's, trucks and motorcycle combos. With the crisis in Greece its getting difficult to find a lot of stuff so I'm stuck with only 2 Opels, one for the battalion AA (a 20mm gun) and one for the AT battery (one door knocker). Still, better days for styrene are bound to come.

This is all from the Greek Geek household and a pleasantly cool Athens evening.

Immortals Complete

Sorry for not posting in almost a month now, but real life has kept me too busy to shoot photos and type. Needless to say, I've kept up with my painting and some of the projects that I decided on for 2012 are well on the way to completion.

 

 I finally completed my first base for Basic Impetus Persians. A total of 10 figures, half being archers, half being armed with melee weapons. I chose to portray the Yellow Regiment of the Immortals, that's why most figures have a yellow-purple tunic. As much as I tried, I could not paint the delicate patterns on the back of the Zvezda box. Even this took a respectable 15 hours to complete. I have another 6 bases of Persians to complete, but I expect only the two bases of medium cavalry to be as much of a hassle.

That's all for now from the Greek Geek household.

By Your Command

Sunday night was always a bummer when you're a kid. But for a while at least we had Battlestar Galactica to take the sting off. I always used to watch it before dinner and talk about it with my friends in school come Monday. I found that Studio Bergstrom had some great BSG miniatures so I ordered some about a year ago. With my usual glacial pace, it took about 4 months I think until I finished them, although the castings are sublime and real easy to paint. Here is a Cylon Basestar from the original series with some Raiders. I chose 1" starfighters as I can use them both as squadron tokens and starfighter games). The Basestar is excellent but needed quite a bit of glue. It's hefty too. I went for a light gray color with red lights on the landing bays and light blue trim. I could have done a better job with Raiders, but I'll live with those.

Hopefully I'll have some more Basestars and Battlestars (with associated fighters) on my bench before spring is out. Until then, these will have to do for my playtesting for Song of Voids and Stars. That's all for now from warm and sunny Athens.