More 28mm Afrika Korps - 88mm Flak from Perry Miniatures

Here's a Flak 88 for the Afrika Korps... as everybody knows, this was the ultimate anti-tank weapon when pressed into that role by the Germans, and they developed some very clever tactics with the 88 in the Western Desert. Obviously a must-have for a DAK table-top force.

So clearly I needed to build and paint one... and there are several available. Rubicon makes one in 1/56, and there are various metal kits about in "28mm" scale as well. I chose the one from Perry Miniatures for several reasons: it was described as a "resin kit" of only six pieces (I still have trauma from the 1/48 Bandai 88), Perry make a metal crew for it, and I needed some other models from them anyway. Done!

However, while I'm happy with the result, the model itself didn't thrill me. First, it's 3D printed (in resin), not a cast resin model. This is OK I guess, but when paying top price for a kit (18 pounds sterling!) I don't want to deal with print lines and such. Second, it's freakin' tiny. And third, did I mention it cost 18 pounds and didn't come with crew?? But to be fair, I think the Rubicon one is comparable in price (about 21 pounds) and comes with carriage parts and an early-war European theatre crew, but there are over 200 parts in the kit, and I've BTDT. 

So I went with Perry, and it worked out OK, after straightening out the warped trails. I'm also patting myself on the back for magnetising the crewman seen above aiming the gun. I used 5mm magnets, one attached to the body of the gun and the other to the seat mount on the crew figure.

Speaking of the crew, they're great - typical Perry stuff. Anatomy and faces are first-rate, but it should be noted that they're fairly slightly built to match the plastic DAK models; these aren't "heroic 28mm" figures by any means. You get 8 of 'em in the pack and a couple shell crates for 8 pounds, which is pretty good if you don't have to have them posted to you.

Here's that gun aimer. You can just see the disc magnet at the left.

And here's some beauty shots of the gun itself. In hindsight I maybe could've used a lighter yellow to paint it but it's weathered and done now. Not one step back!!

As I said earlier, the trails were a little warped and wouldn't straighten with hot water, so I had to screw around a bit with mounting it to the base - basically had to put a spacer in the middle and superglue the pads at the ends of the trails to the base, and clamp them down. It worked in the end, but was a royal pain.

So I guess I would say that if I had to do it over, I'd order the gun from Rubicon, pocket the Rubicon crew, and get the DAK crew from Perry. Two hundred parts is a lot for this model, but you do get the carriage parts - the DAK was known to put these guns into action straight from the carriage, and that would look cool on the table. Anyway, it's done now and that's the main thing, I'm on to the rest of the infantry platoon and a Blitzkrieg Pzkpfw. III, watch for those soon.

Heia Safari!

New Project - WW2 Western Desert, Perry Afrika Korps

I posted these models on the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge Blog about two weeks ago, but also wanted to post them here as kind of a record of my new project - the war in the Western Desert. First up is a 10-man section of Perry Miniatures DAK infantry.

The models are from the Perrys' plastic box, of course. I usually shun multi-part plastic models like a social disease, mainly because of the time and fiddliness in assembling the models. However the Perry stuff is only moderately time-consuming and fiddly... they come with head, torso and legs as one piece, and you stick on arms and weapon (usually as one piece), field gear (also one piece), and headgear. That's it, unless you need to assemble a machine gunner or NCO, then you need to also stick on a tool pouch or MP40 ammo pouches. So not a ton of work, and they're way more cost-effective than metal or even the Warlord/Bolt Action DAK box.

You can pick headgear from three variants - the early sun helmet, the steel helmet, or the iconic "Afrika" peaked soft cap. It's a good idea to trim a bit off the top of the model's head (ouch) before sticking on the cap, just to help it sit down a little lower over the eyes.

Once the dudes are assembled, it's time to paint 'em... I stocked up on shades of khaki for these guys. The trousers are all painted GW Zandri Dust with an Agrax Earthshade wash and re-highlight with Zamesi, and the jackets and caps are a variety of shades, including Vallejo Khaki and Yellow-Green, GW Rakarth Flesh, AK Deck Tan, etc... the webbing and helmets are Zandri Dust and breadbags are GW XV-88. Rifle stocks are GW Mournfang Brown highlighted with Skrag Brown, as are the wool covers on the waterbottles. 

Most of the poses are pretty good. In a few cases I had to do some greenstuff work around the joins between the arms and torso, but most were good.

The one-piece field gear is good too, there's a water bottle, breadbag, gas mask canister, entrenching tool and bayonet all attached. The tropical boots are cool too - I painted them with GW Doombull Brown and Vallejo German Uniform as seen here. The bases are made with a new technique - I glop on the Golden Coarse Pumice Gel as usual, but then sprinkle some fine sand on while it's still wet, to give a bit more sandy texture in fitting with the desert theme. After the models are primed and painted, I finish the bases with Steel Legion Drab/Zandri Dust/Rakarth Flesh. 

With this bunch done I've fully succumbed to temptation to start a new WW2 period. The DAK and Eighth Army will join my 28mm NW Europe British/Canadians, British Commandos, BEF/Home Guard, US paratroopers, US winter infantry, winter Finns, Soviets, German Heer, German Waffen-SS, German Fallschirmjagers, and early-war French in the cabinets. 

And since these dudes were painted I've finished another "unit" - a Perry 88mm Flak gun with eight crew. Blog post to come soon on that. Plus some tanks arrived from Blitzkrieg yesterday, as well as a couple of 6-pounder guns from Bolt Action today, so I'm set for painting for awhile yet.

Heia Safari!

Painting Challenge Submission 18 - Jyn Erso's Team from "Rogue One"

Ready to take a chance, until all of the chances are spent...

For my final submission to the 12th Edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, I went with a selection of 32mm figures for the game "Star Wars: Legion". The figures are a mix of "Fantasy Flight Games" miniatures and 3D prints sourced via Etsy.

I caved in to temptation and started "Star Wars: Legion" last year. The rules are so baroque and overly complicated that I find them to be barely playable - but the miniatures are generally great, and since there are a lot of other rules options with which to use these figures, I have been diving more and more into it. The range of figures from Fantasy Flight (or Atomic Mass, or Private Equity Tools, or whatever they are called these days) is fairly complete, and includes a number of character figures from the "Rogue One" movie.Even better, there is an amazing and talented community of 3D-print file designers out there filling in the gaps - and in this submission we find both kinds of figures.

Nearly all of the "Star Wars" films made under the Disney banner have been very poor. The three sequel films in particular were a tour-de-force in appalling film making, ranging from "very bad film with lazy writing that somehow makes the prequels tolerable in comparison" to "human excrement rendered as a digital HD experience". But there is one exception amid the Disney film wreckage - "Rogue One". It's awesome, just a great film, and certainly my favourite film of the whole Star Wars bunch. As DaveV introduced me to the 3D-printed-figure world for "Star Wars: Legion", I immediately ordered some characters inspired by "Rogue One".

So we have Bodhi Rook, the "brave defector" - this is a 3D printed figure.

Bodhi Rook, ready to help engineer a landing in a captured Imperial shuttle.

We have Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus, the displaced guardians of the Jedi temple. These are also 3D printed figures.

I love the pose on this sculpt - amazing to see what the 3D printing folks can do these days...

Love that weapon!

We have a team of Rebel Pathfinders - these are from the box set of the same name from Fantasy Flight Games. These are lovely sculpts, but the plastic-resin used in the manufacturing is bendy and crappy. Once you get the paint on them, they are not too bad, but I have ordered some additional Pathfinders from a 3D print supplier to expand this force later on.

Love that door-gunner character...only downside is that it makes the Pathfinder box very bespoke...hard to add variety when all of the figures are so specific. But lovely sculpts.

The Pathfinder team, ready for action!

And last, but not least, we have the amazing Jyn Erso, the young rebel who sets aside bitterness, cynicism and sadness to challenge the evil of the Galactic Empire head-on. This figure is from Fantasy Flight Games. I'm hoping Jyn will be an acceptable figure for a ride on Sarah's Star Yacht!

The sculpting is nice...Jyn is ready to break a knee to make her points...

Prior to the Challenge, I had painted Cassian Andor and the sincere-yet-tactless droid K-2S0 - both figures from Fantasy Flight Games. They won't count for points here, but it seemed wrong to leave them out of the group photo...

Ten people, ready to fight like a hundred...

Cassian and K2 lurking in the back of the group photo...

This was my final submission to AHPC XII. Thanks to everyone who took the time to leave a comment, and congratulations to all participants, particularly my fellow Fawcett Avenue Conscripts, who have made huge progress against their unpainted figure piles. All the best to everyone!

Painting Challenge Submission 16 - Plastic Death Korps of Kreig

A squad of "Death Korps of Krieg" troops - plastic from GW.

Continuing with my wrap-up/catch-up posts of final AHPC submissions, we have a selection of cheerful fellows to represent a squad of troopers from the "Death Korps of Krieg", a military unit set in Games Workshop's "Warhammer 40k" universe. With a name like that, you know they MUST be happy chaps, right? These are multi-part plastic 28mm figures from GW.

The "Death Korps" have a specific story in the lore of the 40k setting, but it's a bit TL/DR. Suffice to say the setting offered the sculptors at Forge World, (the sort-of-associated-but-not-totally-coordinated-but-still-wholly-owned-or-something GW studio) a chance to explore a particular design theme for the "Imperial Army" troops - that theme is "World War I, but, you know, in the year 40,000". This sort of look had been attempted by others, but the Forge World sculptors at the time hit it out of the park with the "Death Korps of Krieg" - a full range of figures blending the kit, look and despair of troops on the western front in 1916 with certain 40k flourishes (skullz!).

Lots of detail on the kit.

Can you spot the small skullz?

The Krieg sculpts from Forge World were amazing. They were - and still are - a stark contrast to the plastic offerings of the day (either the deeply uninspiring Cadians, or, much worse, the complete-crap Catachans). As nice as they were, however, they were only available from Forge World, and so were seldom seen on gaming tables.

Communications trooper.

Love the flare pistol.

Another comms trooper...not sure what I was thinking by doing two of them...oh well...

Really like this pose.

Fast forward to summer 2021, and the release of a new edition of the "Kill Team" rules from GW. The new box set had guardsmen from the "Death Korps of Krieg" - and they were plastic! I picked up a set, and wow, I think this might be the start of something...the figures are so cool, with lots of options for assembly.  I built this unit mostly to represent a basic infantry squad (one sergeant, one special-weapon trooper), but I did mix in a couple of specialists with comms equipment for use with "Kill Team".

The grenadier is fantastic, loading another round...

Suitably action-ish pose for the officer.

It would make sense for GW to add a couple of more plastic sets for the Krieg troopers - all they need are heavy weapon crews, and some officer sets. That said, GW's moves often don't...make much sense? We'll see. But I certainly am going to track down a few more boxes of these fellows, it will be a fun new-project for the future!

A couple of the regular chaps aiming their laser rifles.

I loved working on these figures. It will take a bit of time, but watch for more to appear in this space, as I don't think I will be satisfied with just one squad...thanks for reading!

Painting Challenge Submission 15 - Are We Ready For Some Blood Bowl?

It's Blood Bowl time! Here come the Hochland Hammers!

Spring has arrived - on the calendar, if not in the climate - and that means another edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge has come to an end. The final couple of weeks of the AHPC tend to be a real mad dash, as Challenge participants cram to finish off projects old and new, and rack up as many points as possible. You can see from the frenetic activity here on the blog (which is awesome - keep it up!) just how much paint the Conscripts tossed at figures through the final phases.

I will catch up myself now, with a series of posts showing my final work for AHPC XII. And to get started, I have this submission, which would push me across the line for my own points target. It felt it fitting to use a Blood Bowl team to push across the proverbial line. So I present the "Hochland Hammers", a team of Imperial Nobility, for GW's Blood Bowl. 

I think these are the bodyguards...I assume meant to protect the thrower, like offensive linemen or something.

So what can I tell you about Blood Bowl? Nothing! I have never played it. I have been aware of it for the entirety of my 30+ years of interest in the hobby and GW, but I have never, ever played it, or given it much more than a glance and a chuckle. 

My thrower...hasn't played a game yet, and he already looks like he wants to re-work his contract...

But, having moved to a new town, I am keen to meet new hobbyists and gamers. And here in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, they play Blood Bowl. There is a league, entering its third season, and all of the players in the league, polite and fun participants in the assorted historical and 30k demo games I have been staging here at the local hobby shop, have been urging me to play Blood Bowl. 

The blitzers. I wonder how they will do against Khorne-worshipping linemen?

I was reluctant, feeling I could not get a team painted in time, as the league starts in March - but since it appears you only need 12 or so players, I thought "why not?". When in Rome, right? I want to meet new players, and get to know the local gaming community a little better. Plus, there are always hilarious Blood Bowl-themed entries in The Painting Challenge. I picked the Imperial Nobility box off of the shelf at the beginning of March, and got cracking with the brushes. I chose the colours of Hochland - the same colours of my very, very old Empire Army from Warhammer Fantasy Battle, that still sits on my shelf today. 

Ah, the colours of Hochland - quick and dirty to paint!

I already can't recall what position these two play, but the fact that they keep tankards with them at all times makes me confident they have "what it takes" to succeed in Blood Bowl.

This team includes a thrower, linemen, bodyguards, and a couple of blitzers - I think? I'm not sure. The box came with two thrower figures, but I only painted the one, thinking that you would not have two throwers on the field on the same time - although I don't know that, as I don't know a thing about Blood Bowl. 

Blood Bowl appears to involve a ball and violence. So this fellow should come in handy.

I've sourced a jaunty hat for this guy, but that is still in the post, so this is how he will likely play his first couple of games.

Multiple members of the local league, upon hearing that I was painting up the Imperial Nobility team, assured me that I would "need" an Ogre. So I ordered one of those too, and got him ready to go.

I also painted up some trinkets/markers that came on the sprues. I am trying to find figures to represent coaches, and an apothecary, but I am assured I "have what I need to play a game" at this point. We'll see!

Are we ready for some Blood Bowl! Hell yeah!

So...I am finally trying Blood Bowl! Travel plans will delay my first game, but I do hope share tales of my trouncing in the local league as it starts to occur! Thanks for reading!

Painting Challenge Submission 12 - Elucia Vhane, Rogue Trader

Elucia Vhane, Rogue Trader. 28mm plastic figure from GW.

Submission number 12 to Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge was yet another single figure - it all has to do with moving around the Challenge XII Quadrant Map.  My exploration of the Challenge XII Quadrant started on Istvaan, and then moved to Glorantha. Further progress in the outer ring will require a journey on "Lady Sarah's Star Yacht" (see the map link for details on what that entails). For that purpose, I painted up Elucia Vhane, Rogue Trader and leader of the Elucidian Starstriders. Elucia Vhane is a 28mm plastic figure from GW.

Elucia's wardrobe combines elements of style AND practicality very nicely.

"Rogue Traders" are agents of The Imperium in the GW's Warhammer 30k and 40k settings. While the Imperium is vast, the galaxy still bigger, and Rogue Traders have the authority to explore, trade, conquer, pillage, negotiate - and more! - outside of the Imperium's boundaries. Rogue Traders therefore tend to be very interesting characters. They also get stuck into sticky situations...Elucia Vhane and her ship were no exception - I won't get into the details here, but let's just say things did not end well, and Elucia Vhane's team is a group of "survivors"...

I hope Elucia will enjoy Lady Sarah's Yacht, after things on her own ship, New Dawn, did not work out so well...

Elucia Vhane certainly evokes the style and poise one might expect from a Rogue Trader! She looks sharp, but also emits the proper level of menace. That pistol may look antique, but it can probably take out a squad in one shot. This is a brilliant sculpt from GW, and a lot of fun to paint. In fact, the entire group of Starstriders are excellent figures, and I hope to finish one or two more of them before this edition of the Painting Challenge concludes!

That's all for this submission, but I promise my next one has more than a single figure! Thanks for reading, have a great day!

Painting Challenge Submission 11 - General de Bonnemains

General de Bonnemains - 28mm figure from Eagles of Empire.

This Painting Challenge submission did not have much to it - just a single figure. But there is a feature to the Challenge that encourages such submissions - the "Challenge XII Quadrant Map" - see here for details. Bottom line is that this was a way to get some paint on a figure that had been overdue to receive it, and score a few bonus points for the work. This also allowed me to get a submission in for a week where progress on larger projects had not been sufficiently advanced to be ready for submission.

 

In terms of "visiting planets", I started on Istvaan V, and looking at my collection and set of projects jammed on my painting desk(s), an opportunity presented itself to visit the neighbouring world of Glorantha. The theme for this planet calls for "heroes", and with this in mind, I here is General de Bonnemains, who led the 2nd Reserve Cavalry Division during the battle of  Froschwiller on August 6, 1870. This is a 28mm metal figure from "Eagles of Empire".

The Battle of Froschwiller was a major engagement that occurred early in the Franco-Prussian War. The Prussian coalition was advancing across the border, and Marshal MacMahon, commander of the Army of Alsace, was preparing for a defensive battle, having found an ideal position along the Sauer river. Orders to concentrate had been issued - the 1st Corps was already in place, and he was waiting for 5th and 7th Corps to join them. The Prussian side had similar notions, their III Army also planning to gather its strength before commencing a grand battle. Two armies faced each other warily across the Sauer valley, near the towns of Froschwiller and Worth. 

The plan was to wait until ready. But plans often don't work - and for the French in 1870 they, like, never worked. On August 6th, the pickets on both sides started to engage. Escalation followed. Artillery was committed. Troops were sent forward to deal with that. Maybe best to secure a town, you know, just to be sure? Can't allow that, right? 

Before long, the elements of the Prussian III Army were getting stuck in. The Bavarians led the way on the right flank, and the Prussians committed to follow their allies. Through the day, the French fought valiantly - 1st Corps containing some of the very top units in the French Army. MacMahon waited for help to arrive, but it never showed. As his lines buckled, he needed to buy time...and he bought that time with the lives of the reserve cavalry. General de Bonnemains led the charge, four regiments of Cuirassiers, the cream of the Second Empire's heavy cavalry. The odds were long, but the safety and glory of France were at stake. 

A very dramatic pose by the sculptor, perfect for the subject.

It was not to be...the rock-paper-scissors era of infantry lines and squares holding against the heavy cavalry were gone. The French Cuirassiers went forward, and were shot to pieces by the Prussians, armed with breech-loading rifles, backed by steel-breech-loading artillery, these glorious French cavalrymen never had a hope. In particularly tragic sequence, 700 Cuirassiers were caught in the village of Morsbronn and massacred in a matter of minutes.

The sacrifice of the heavy cavalry bought time for Marshal MacMahon to pull his shattered forces from the battlefield and fall back - many of these troops would meet their ultimate fate at Sedan some weeks later.

A white horse, perfect to lead a glorious charge!

I have not been able to track down whether General de Bonnemains survived this battle or whether he was one of the casualties of the fighting that day - apologies for the sloppy research! But I had purchased this character figure from "Eagles of Empire" - purveyors of beautiful 28mm metal figures for the period, and a quite interesting set of skirmish-type rules for the setting. He had been sitting, primed, for months, since he had arrived in the summer...a perfect target for an Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge submission! I thought he would make a fine submission for "Glorantha".

The "Eagles of Empire" sculpts are tall, lean and lovely - with one challenge in this case. The sword was bent during shipping, and I could not, no matter what I tried, get it sorted. It is tragic for this figure to defend the honour of France with a bent sword...but hey, things went really bad in 1870 for them, right?

So there was just the one figure for this submission, but at least it scored a few points, and as I said, it kept the posting momentum up for the Challenge. Thanks for reading!

Painting Challeng Submission 10 - 40k Raven Guard Contraption

Invictor War Suit for my Raven Guard Space Marines. Plastic model from GW.

Have I been asleep at the blogging switch? Well, yes, yes I have...work has been busy, eating into spare time (which is OK - it pays for miniatures!) but the remaining spare time has been ruthlessly focused on painting, and on meeting my commitments as a "Minion" for Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. So I have been posting stuff there, and neglecting here...enough of that! Time to catch up a bit.

Before I do, just have to acknowledge the work the Conscripts have been doing for this edition of the Painting Challenge. Frederick in particular is CRUSHING it, racking up huge points totals and keeping the honour of the Fawcett Avenue Conscripts up near the top of the league tables. Well done! Be sure to check out their work - as well as that of Dave (OGRE!), Mike F (More 30k! More!) and Byron (10mm Fantasy!) on the Painting Challenge Blog - and I hope they might also find the time to post here about it as well. And I know Dallas will be along soon to share some "Churchillian" efforts of his own...you guy have been doing great, and as the Challenge comes down to the wire, I'm sure you'll have more stuff to bring across the painting finish line!

OK - back to catching up on my own Painting Challenge stuff. Up first, another item for my 40k Raven Guard project. This is some sort of bonkers contraption known as an "Invictor War Suit". This is a multi-part plastic kit from GW, one of the newer releases for the newer Primaris Space Marine range of figures for their Warhammer 40,000 setting. It's a big walking thing with guns. 

Guns solve problems, right?

Followers of this blog will already be aware of how the grim darkness of the far future is in fact overrun with big walking things with guns. Some are big. Many are bigger. Some are quite huge. But they walk, and they have guns, and thus this "newer" design takes its place in an august lineup of universe-wrecking-walking-things-with guns. But it is also a little different, at least for Space Marines...

A view of the carbon-neutral power system...

That is because the pilot of the machine is, well, a Space Marine. Makes sense. But this is still different. You see, usually, Space Marine machines of this sort, called "Dreadnoughts", are 'crewed' by a near-dead Marine, who is essentially entombed in the machine, allowing them to fight for the Emperor for, like, nearly eternity. Lucky them. You don't see the 'pilot', because his remaining bits are plugged into arcane machinery, hidden under slabs of armour. 

So. Many. Guns.

But this thing...well, it just has a roll-cage, and the pilot can hop in and hop back out. Like a kind of regular machine. I mean, still a whacky, far-future, gun-festooned machine...but a pilot that can hop out, check things over, compare notes with fellow pilots...that seems borderline heretical! This design brings to mind the sort of "war-jack" type walker units seen in other sci-fi settings, such as the "APU Defense Sentinels" from the otherwise un-watchable "Matrix: Revolutions" film.

This kit was certainly a challenge to put together...GW made some heroic assumptions about what bits you might glue, and others you might not, and how the whole thing would work. I had major issues sorting out the cockpit, and a lot of trouble with the legs. Enough trouble that I am confident this will be the only such machine that will be joining my 40k Raven Guard forces...give me a normal dreadnought over this thing any day...

Some unsolicited feedback for the design of this model...

But for all the issues, more guns is more guns, and when you are defending The Emperor, it seems you can never have quite enough guns. This thing delivers - and for added fun, it can punch recalcitrant unbelievers into dust for sport. 

The cage doesn't exactly close, like it says it will in the instructions...but close enough. All aboard for fun!

I hope to bring this monster into action this weekend. That will be its first game. What could go wrong? We all know how newly-painted figures dominate the tabletop, right? 

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more shortly!