Painting Challenge Submission 6 - 28mm WW2 Winter German Command

28mm WW2 German Command and medical assortment in 28mm - figures from Warlord Games' "Bolt Action" range.

Is it possible to paint even more 28mm WW2 Germans in winter kit? Apparently yes... the brushes are on a roll, so here is a third batch of 28mm WW2 Germans in winter gear, part of my ongoing submissions to Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.  These are metal figures from Warlord, and include the contents of a command pack as well as a special giveaway figure(s) they were tossing into various packs during their Christmas promotions.

German senior officer, in fur-lined winter coat.

MP-40 slung over the shoulder.

The main officer is on a hex-shaped base, an approach we use to help easily identify senior command figures on the gaming table.  There was already a lot of feldgrau and white among the soldiers, so I tried to make the officer look a little different by giving him a non-regulation fur-lined coat, the sort of thing a more senior fellow might manage.

That said, there are such a dizzying array of "official" German uniforms that it would not surprise me to learn that this, in fact, some kind of "M41 Special Sheep-Leather" coat or whatever...

Artillery spotter (or, could be another NCO if required). Most prone 28mm castings are huge waste of space, but this one isn't bad at all, I actually like it.

The prone figure is intended to be used as a spotter for mortars etc. I really don't like prone figures in 28mm, but at least it's just an individual model, and this case, and I would hit the turf too if I was trying to keep an eye out for falling rounds!  It is a rare moment of a prone 28mm casting being an asset rather than a pain.

This NCO is serious...he has two helmets!

This NCO-type figure has two helmets! Why, do you ask? Well, Greg doesn't often pay close attention when assembling models! Warlord often provides options for separate heads on many of their infantry castings.  I thought this helmet option looked posh, glued it on, primed the figure and started painting it, and it was THEN that I realized "oh, hey, he had a helmet already tied to his belt...I guess I should have picked a head with a cap for this fellow..."

I suppose I could have knocked the head off and swapped in another, but that seemed like bad luck...so instead, I developed a back story.  This fellow is a veteran NCO, but a superstitious one - he keeps his "lucky" helmet - still painted yellow - that carried him from Africa out to the Eastern Front. Now that winter is here, he wears a white-washed herlmet, but keeps his good luck charm still with him, regardless of the extra weight. When the weather conditions change back to spring/summer, he'll put the yellow-coloured lid back on, but until then, he just has it with him, for good luck...

Medic assisting a wounded comrade.

The medic is done by Warlord as a small, two-figure vignette, already helping a wounded comrade who is using his rifle as a crutch.  Several sets of skirmish rules allow for use of battlefield medics, so Warlord's WW2 range often includes medics/orderlies.  In this case, the medic is done more as a vignette-style than as an individual figure.

Really cool sculpt from Warlord.

The sculpting is very nice on all of these figures, but in particular it is great on this pair.  A battlefield wound would always be scary, but in the context of the winter cold this fear is even more pronounced. A wound in the deep winter fighting gets much more serious, much more quickly. The sculpting on the face of the wounded infantryman reflects that grim understanding.

Vignette from Warlord games - this was a "throw in" with one of their 28mm German winter bundle deals.

The sculpting here is really, really well done - on all of these miniatures, in fact.

And speaking of "grim", that leads, last but not least, to another two-figure vignette in this submission, an infantryman trying to assist a fallen comrade.  If things are a little scary for the wounded fellow with the medic, well, they are that much worse here...this fellow may be down for the count, but his comrade doesn't want to give up on him, and is trying to grab him by the lapels, either to get him back up, or just drag him back to the medic, even if there may be nothing to be done...

This figure was included as a bonus in my order, although I suspect that it is available for purchase somewhere in the rabbit maze that is Warlord's web shop.

I am really, really enjoying painting the 28mm metal WW2 figures from Warlord. The sculpts have a lot of character, and are a real treat to paint.  I'm still quite a ways away from playing a game with them, but I'm getting closer! I will also be looking at some other metal castings to augment the collection - I have some figures from Offensive Miniatures and Artizan coming soon - and I may give Empress a try as well.