Apologies for my forced absence last week - I know all of you were clamoring for more WIP Wednesday action so here you go. We were on a family cruise in the Caribbean and while our journey to the Caymans was scratched due to weather, we were able to sail through the Bahamas and my daughter and I ran the "Castaway Cay 5k" race while down there.
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| My daughter insisted on buying this magnet and putting it on our stateroom door... |
Now it's back to reality with settling back into work, chores, parenting mayhem, and of course, painting! First up this week is progress on my western European buildings that you probably dont remember from last post.
These are from "Total Battle Miniatures" and Baccus' Western European range. I am absolutely loving the Total Battle buildings and the depth of their sculpts is seriously impressive!
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| First up - the Storehouse from Total Battle. Absolutely a joy to paint. I just need to highlight the roof and I'm calling this guy done. |
Some more of the village - lightly dry brushed with a medium grey. A handful of houses and a church that I'm going to use for Aspern Essling if I ever get it on the table again. Shamefully this was bought with that intention in mind and I completely forgot I had it when
we played this epic battle 4 years ago.
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| Common to many European churches, the church courtyard has a cemetery in it! Complete with headstones and grave markers! I love Baccus minis! |
The church is going to get a good dry brush of various greys and whites and I'm unsure about the tiled roof. Probably just do it in the reddish clay like the other buildings.
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| A total battle walled house. I love this model! |
Also because I know you're wondering - here is an update on the DAK/Panzer Armee Afrika forces for Kasserine Pass! Most of the German units have their drybrush layer of Tamiya "dark yellow" now and a light dry brush of vallejo "dark sand". Below you will find a proof-of-concept for basing that I'm trying out for them - since they'll be doing double duty for the early north africa battles against the Desert Rats, I'm making the bases very light.
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| They're a long way from done - but theyre coming along. |
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| I'm painting the infantry directly on their old bases, but will re-base them once they're ready. |
Speaking of bases, here is a proof of concept for my DAK force. 4 x bases tried with my usual ground cover paint, and dry brushed with "dark sand" vallejo. I think they turned out ok.
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| A mean looking Tiger from 501st Heavy Panzer Battalion! |
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| The backbone of the German armored force - the Panzer III. Supported by a 250 recce halftrack and a panzer IV in the background. The entire force is coming along! |
and the DAK would be nothing without proper folks to fight against! Here is the status of my Kasserine Pass Americans of "Stark Force". They all have their US OD basecoat and are awaiting wash and detailing prior to basing. As much as it's going to bug me, I'm not basing them on desert bases because they're not the correct Sherman marks to be fighting in North Africa - they'll be doing double duty between Sidi Bou Zid and Alsace-Lorraine!
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| The US Armor force complete with halftracks and SP Artillery! |
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| Basecoated with PSC US Olive Drab. The 2 x darker tanks have a wash of agrax earthshade on them. They'll get light detailing before theyre based (pioneer tools, recovery equipment, etc) |
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| Finally, I'm painting my US infantry same as the German DAK infantry - on their old bases. Once these guys are finished, they'll be re-based onto new small FOW bases. |
So there you have it! Another week of WIP in the books. I am busy prepping a scenario for my next face to face game with Dave. We're going to play a Korsun Pocket scenario based on Hill 239 using Peter's excellent
WWII rules with my modifications. I am keen to play them against a live human being! Anyways that's next Friday. This coming Friday or Saturday will be a solo game - potentially a "Valour & Fortitude" practice game as I've been wanting to give those rules a try again for some time. Some more games coming up on the horizon include my modified GDW "Team Yankee" board game rules played with minis, some Seven Years War back on the table, and potentially a sojourn into ancients lies ahead? Stay tuned!
I hope everyone is having a great week! Keep those brushes moving!
Superb stuff Steve! Congrats on the 5k :) ..the Tiger looks amazing...and I can smell Kasserine Pass coming...ohh yes. I'm sorting out some additional hexes this weekend - large and small for the ww2 and modern games to come ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Darren! Kasserine Pass is coming along slowly but surely. There will likely be a GDW Team Yankee Fulda game on the table before I can pull off Kasserine Pass or Race for Tunis. I also need to figure out how to make 6mm Palm trees and North African buildings 🫠...
DeleteLooking forward to seeing g your games sir! Also I am keen to try Peter's rules in 15mm for Stalingrad. That will look epic up close amd personal with the 15mm kit.
It looked like you had a good vacation Steve and well done on managing to run a whole 5km! (I doubt I could do that any longer!)
ReplyDeleteVery nice-looking buildings and armour - as to mini scale Arab buildings, they should be pretty easy to do, I would think - they are basically mostly square or rectangular in shape with a low wall around the roof...and steps, if to can be bothered with that in your preferred scale?!
Thanks Keith! The 5k was fun although maybe not at the time :)
DeleteI have some wooden cubes I was using for markers and I was thinking they should work next to some monopoly buildings painted.
The dry brushing on the buildings has come up really well.
ReplyDeleteThank you Peter, the Total Battle minis take dry brusing very well and have a nice look to them when finished.
DeleteAll good progress. Seeing the U.S. forces in their tray just instantly transported me back to teenage years and the joy of 1/300 with Leicestershire rules and that incredibly detailed anti-tank graph, with all penetrations over distance mapped out.
ReplyDeleteI note the Perry’s have put up a couple of ACW lists Valour & Fortitude, which I hope to get to my table tomorrow. Enjoy your Friday game.
Thanks Norm! Many of us have micro armor or 6mm minis as our initial foray into gaming. I am one of them and had a small collection in college where i had less money and so lots of substitutions :-)
DeleteI will be watching your ACW game with interest.
Do you find it clunky to apply the special rules from the Army lists to the game?
Yes, I though think being more familiar reduces that effect and also playing solo means increased admin in both special rules and handling two card hands.
DeleteGosh, you have been busy! I'm intrigued by the 'ground cover paint' you mentioned. Is it textured? I usually just base 6mm stuff with flock or fine builders sand, depending on theatre.
ReplyDeleteHere and there as time permits, Martin! I worded that badly. I meant the paint I use for ground cover when basing.
DeleteI went the Stephen's Balagan route where I had a large amount of latex acrylic paint mixed at a DIY store to match the Tamiya flat earth color (name escapes me). I use that for my table and bases.
I glue sand or fine railroad ballast down, paint it in this earth color, then dry brush it alternating shades depending on the theater.