Thursday, April 3, 2014

M113 MERDC, Warsaw Pact Cat II Troops, and Napoleonic French Grenadiers

Made a ton of progress with my "weekend" over the last day and a half.  I spent most of the time converting old French Grenadiers and re-painting and rebasing them.  Between the Napoleonic madness, I was able to basecoat a ton of 15mm Armor for my upcoming modern games when WWIII breaks out in Central Europe.

Here is my first MERDC M113.  Part of the old US Army "J" Series MTOE, this will serve as a M114 scout vehicle in a small Cavalry Troop, or a covering force with some M551 Sheridans (drat I spoiled the surprise!).  I am also painting up 2 M-48s from Command Decision that will serve along side this little bugger.  He is based in Army Painter "Army Green" primer and this is a sandstone and black over for detail.  My more modern US stuff will be painted in the NATO standard 3-Color.



Dismounts!
Okay here is some of the Petner Panzers basecoated with the AMAZING Krylon "light olive" camo paint.  Good luck finding this in a "big box" store.  I had to go on Amazon to order it.  Having seen Russian export equipment first-hand in Iraq, I can tell you this green light-drab is absolutely spot-on the Warsaw Pact export colors.  (if you're watching the news and lucky enough to see the Ukrainian T-64 that's "dug in" with some pine boughs covering it, you'll notice this paint I used is a dead-ringer for that tank's color).  So my Soviet "regular" forces will be painted in this single-tone color.  They will also serve as Cat II troops such as Poles or East Germans if the need arises.
The Petner Panzer T-72s wearing their basecoat!
 No details yet on the Soviet stuff.  I am too burned out from painting Naps today!
ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" from Quality Castings.  Or as American Soldiers refer to him as...."Zeus."

AT-5 and a Recon BRDM2.  These guys will come in handy.



Okay last but not least, I promised progress and progress you will see.  This is my second-last French unit before I am officially DONE painting French infantry units.  And then I can finish the last of my Brits.  Then start my Saxons, and Napoleonic Prussians....Ugh!!!






 Speaking of Prussians....I have some intel for all you Seven Years War gamers and collectors.  If you're into plastic, I'm happy to report that the HaT Seven Years War plastic 1/72 guys come with head options!!!!!!!!!  Want Fusiliers?  You can affix the Fusilier hat.  Want Grenadiers?  You can affix the Grenadier hat.  This is a pretty significant development because it considerably expands the options for building an Army in plastic and not stretching the ole' wallet too much.  I am embracing the HaT Seven Years War troops and will be building Armies from them once i get a handle on the Napoleonics situation.


And here's a little surprise for you Horse and Musket fans...Zvezda Swedes from the Great Northern War.  I am very tempted to have them stand-in for extra manpower on the SYW table.  From a distance they look...Ok?  Anybody's thoughts?






Not shown here are my M48s, my Israeli halftracks, Arab T-55 and T-62 hordes, Soviet infantry and a myriad of other systems that were painted up.  Pictures of them coming soon!




9 comments:

  1. I think you'll be fine with the Swedes as is. My research showed that the Swedes wore archaic uniforms in the SYW, very much like the GNW uniform.

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    1. Thanks, John. My first interest was using them as stand-ins for SYW battles, hence the red facings and cuffs but I think the difference in coats is just too much for me so I'll use them for GNW battles as they are originally intended.

      That said, If I'm trying to play a huge SYW battle, don't be surprised if they show up in the Prussian reserve :)

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  2. No gaiters, but white knee-length stockings or leggings.

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  3. Very good work Steven, I reckon a M551 without its turret would make a good stand in M114. I thought they got rid of those in the 70's?

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    1. Paul,
      The Cavalry got rid of them in the 70s. I want to play some games with the M-48s and M113s along with the M551s in a covering force battle taking place in the "roaring" 70s. You can never have too much lead!

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  4. Hi Steven should i have any questions notes doubts concerning your rules where should I post? In any comments regarding one of your posts or do you have a specific e mail address?
    Thanks in advance

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    1. You can post a question to a blog post in the comments, or you can email me directly.

      I created a Google Group for people to post questions but I have not made it "live" yet.

      Here is the link: https://groups.google.com/d/forum/combatteamww2

      Try posting and let me know if you are successful. I am working with the permissions.



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  5. Replies
    1. Thank you sir! Let me know if you have any difficulties. If so, I will send you my email directly.

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