The Lingering Winter - 15mm Winter WW2 Infantry

15mm late WW2 German winter troops

While continuing to work on my Legion project (it is taking forever, I know - you would think I am growing them from the gene seeds - more on this in later posts) I came across a small pile of primed individually-based WW2 figures.  They were winter troops, part of a 15mm winter WW2 effort I started late last year.  Since the soul-crushing winter from hell of 2013-14 refuses to let go (we had 10cm of f*cking snow on the weekend), I thought it would be appropriate to knock them off quickly in a little break from painting Space Marines.

From left, an STG 44, rifle, panzerfaust, and rifle

These figures are not a coherent force in themselves - just odds and ends I wanted to round out a late war winter German platoon, with a couple of surplus Russians done for good measure.

I split the MG team up - I found the three-man base too large, and the rifle/spotter on the right is easily removed as a casualty

The German figures are from Battlefront, wearing a variety of winter garb. There are 10 figures all together - three riflemen, one rifleman carrying a panzerfaust, and one soldier carrying an STG 44. Two more guys are based as NCOs (square bases) carrying SMGs.  Another one is based as a senior officer (hex base) carrying an STG 44.  Last but not least there is a two-man team with an MG 42 mounted on a tripod.

Senior officer on the hex base, NCOs on the square base

Dallas and Curt are always very helpful with my endless questions about German WW2 uniforms (and just uniforms in general :) and I had seen among the references they have provided me a kind of reversible jacket and pants combo that had winter white on one side and more general grey-green or camo patterns on the other.  I tried to mimic this on one of the NCOs and one of the grenadiers.

Fellow on the left made the mistake of believing in "spring" - there is no such thing

My theory is the guys wearing the non-winter sides had been duped by a forecasts of melting snow - something I can relate to.

Battlefront castings

I really enjoy these particular Battlefront castings.  As I noted with the earlier batch, they seem to have a hopeless feeling etched into their faces - knowing they are about to face another offensive in the winter - that would feel pretty hopeless. Nice to see that on these castings.

Three lonely Russians defend the Motherland!

The three Russian figures are leftovers to enhance a winter Russian platoon I had already painted.  There is another senior officer (on the hex base) and two regular soldiers carrying SMGs.  These are Peter Pig castings, and every time I come back to a Peter Pig casting I am very impressed by the incredible quality.  They remain the number one 15mm figure maker in my books!

Peter Pig - still the best for 15mm infantry

I still have a few other primed but unpainted bits for this collection sitting nearby on the pending pile, but I'm not about to dive back into mass 15mm WW2 painting any time soon. This was a fun little diversion, a clearing of the baffles on the painting table - and also to keep in practice, so I don't forget my various paint combos for the winter. I want to keep plowing ahead with my Legion Project as I am looking forward to some Horus Heresy games soon - maybe by the end of the month, if I'm lucky! Stay tuned for details...