NOT a Flames of War entry

Here ye, here ye.  A colleague of mine who has failed to see that the one true dimension is 15mm, has acquired a 54mm Stadden figure of, he believes, a British Lancer circa 1900.  He has a number of questions regarding this figure that I was not able to answer, so I am using this site to post a number of pictures of the casting, with the expectation that somewhere, in the internet of wargaming minds, someone will know the answer.  Specifically:

1.  Is the casting an enlisted man?  NCO?
2.  What colors should the trousers be?
3.  What insignia should this figure have, especially regarding any sleeve work?
4.  Any other websites or painting ideas for this figure?

Your enthusiasm and insight is much appreciated!

This should be easier to paint than pea dot camouflage on a 15mm miniature, but I could be wrong . . . 

LW BOTB German 10.5 cm lefh 18/40 Howitzer Battery

Eureka!  After over 6 months of work (well, mostly waiting for a LONG overdue back order to be filled), the Late War Battle of the Bulge (LW BOTB) German 10.5 cm lefh 18/40 Howitzer Battery is done!  I built four guns so I can use it as a Panzer Division 4 gun battery or a Volksgrenadier 3 gun section.  I also did a command stand and a staff stand as when I started building it Flames of War Version 3 was still the one in vogue.  Plus, the guys looked neat.  So, I started the crews and ordered the howitzers from Battlefront, thinking that the special order guns would be easier to get (and cheaper).  Wrong!  They didn't have them in stock and took five months to fill, which was annoying.  I eventually found three others on eBay and ordered them while waiting for Battlefront to get them in stock.  Of course, as soon as I ordered the others on eBay, guess what finally showed up in my mail box.  Goes to figure, I suppose.  So now, I have a full 4 gun battery, a staff stand, another Forward Observer, and a command stand.  Plus, three other unfinished howitzers that will go into my lead pile in the Battle of the Bulge Tupperware container.    I think this is a rare unit for table top use, and should help my Germans against the always nasty Americans.

A full battery readies to fire on American positions east of St. Vith.

A slightly better picture.  It is hard to get the lighting right with a snow covered table.

I used the Late War Winter crew for these guns.  

These stands may be superfluous in V4 but still look neat.  

 

The RT Volksgrenadiers of the 18th Volksgrenadier Division need all the firepower they can get.

I used several light coatings of snow flock over a dead winter grass mixture.  

The Command stand looks cold.

 

Another view.  

The staff has many targets, but not enough ammunition!  Where are the ammunition trains?

The FO hides in the snow.

I liked how this unit came out, but not the time it took to get all the components to make it.  Luckily, my next units are mere VG sturm and infantry platoons and I have all of the needed figures.

Great Finds!

     I was cleaning and reorganizing the command bunker the past two weekends because things had gotten a bit out of control.  I found that even walking around the gaming table was hazardous to my health, and that a good purge/spring cleaning was in order.  I am not completely finished, but I have made yeoman's progress.  In the conduct of cleaning out old stuff for reorganization/repurposing/recycling, I came across a number of pretty neat things I had forgotten about or hadn't been able to find for years.  The easiest find was an old Pegasus bridge that I had purchased a number of years ago, placed on a shelf and immediately forgot about.  All the parts are there, so it seems a new SWORD Beach scenario is in the works.  Mme  Gondrée
would be happy.

When/where did I get this?  

Not an overly complex kit, which is to my liking!

A more important find was a number of landing craft from Old Glory's Command Decision line.  They had a really good sale a long time ago (a decade?  perhaps . . . ) and I bought up 5 LCMs and 3 LCVPs.  After arrival they languished on a shelf and got put in another box on another shelf and . . .  well, you get the picture.  These also look like easy models to assemble and paint.  They should provide sufficient lift for any amphibious invasion.

Almost like Christmas!  I hope I have some battleship gray paint . . . 

My greatest find was another purchase from perhaps a decade (+) ago.  Brookhurst Hobby was having a sale to get rid of their SDD stock and I purchased the last two (2!) LCTs that they had.  Like many a project that sits on the shelf, I had lost interest and then track of these models.  When I tried to find them a while back I failed to locate them.  Subsequent attempts were also negative.  As such, they are somewhat my prodigal LCTs.  These also appear to be easy models to assemble, and since there are limited choices for LCTs in 15mm, they look quite nice.  I think SDD is out of business now so the last two (!) LCTs was quite a steal.  Because you know that the last one is the best one!  Let alone the last 2!

What the heck was in this box?  Could it be . . . a long lost LST?

Even better it was two of them!

I am somewhat surprised no one else picked up the molds for these.

This should be a nice transport for the 13/18th Hussars, at least the ones that aren't DD tanks.  

While getting new, shiny stuff is always fun, finding old, used to be shiny stuff is pretty good too.  Especially if you find it in the process of cleaning up the gaming area.  The area is no longer rough terrain, so that is a clear benefit to all players.  What else is out there?  Stay tuned.

Historicon 2017

I was able to attend Historicon 2017 down in Fredericksburg, VA, this year.  Despite being a trek in the mobilewagen, I got there on time and played in a number of games from Thursday to Sunday.  The flea market was decent, though the overall interest in FOW seemed lower in the vendor area.  Team Yankee seemed popular, and I was able to play in the MEGA TEAM YANKEE!!!! game on Saturday.  Here are a few shots on the games I played in.

On Thursday I played in the American Civil War Spotsylvania Courthouse Battle using the Big Bloody Battles rule set.  The Confederates were outnumbered, but better leaders and terrain allowed them to hold on despite repeated Union assaults.

The Union II Corp advances to assist the floundering Union northern assault.  

Good ground and entrenchments make sure the next Union attacks don't do much better.  

Attacking across open fields in not a good idea unless you have a lot of good troops.  

The Confederate center is threatened with more Union forces.

Lee is able to shift forces to prevent the Federals from holding the Spotsylvania Courthouse.

Union forces culminate on Day Two with the Rebs in possession of three of the five victory point positions.  On to North Anna!

I played a Stalingrad game on Thursday evening using version 4 FOW rules.  I had a Soviet infantry company (at first) attacking German positions in the city.  They were wiped out to the last stand.  Luckily my T-34s did some damage and reinforcements arriving in the sewers turned the tide.

Massed Soviet infantry prepares to assault the Tractor Factory.

The starving Germans are well entrenched.

Sewer born reinforcements turn the tide.

The Germans cannot resist the Soviet hordes!

Victory to the larger battalions!

Friday was the Vietnam day as I played two very different games set in the Vietnam War using two different rule sets.  In the first game, the US Marines attempted to dig out entrenched VC and NVA forces in Hue using FOW Version 4 rules.

My VC companies prepare to absorb the Marines' firepower.  Ouch!

The VC have lots of booby-traps, mines, snipers and ambush HMGs to slow down the Marines.

A VC RPG scores a lucky hit on a Marine tank, my best shot of the game!

The Marines make progress but are slowed down by the numerous VC booby-traps, snipers, ambushes and mortar fire, allowing the communist player to eek out a win.

The second Vietnam game of the day was "The Men of Company B" led by Martin Goddard of Peter Pig.  Here the US player is conducting search and destroy missions to root out nefarious VC supplies and local forces.  The game played very differently as one might imagine.  Martin was a great game master and very entertaining (the British accent is worth a couple of victory points alone!) and we ran two complete games.  Martin and his minions won one and the US player won the other.  Lots of fun!

A US squad searches for VC caches and slow running VC.  Rolling the Piggy dice is amusing in its own right.

VC local forces and US infantry exchange fire.  The US has a firepower advantage but the VC have a pesky ability to run away and regenerate.  Another great Peter Pig game!

My last game on Saturday was the TEAM YANKEE MEGAGAME.  I wanted to play this to get a feel for the game system, and the lust of running a full BMP battalion proved irresistible.  The game was well set up and knowledgeable players were a big help.  Still, a seven hour game is a bit long for me.  I need to be more disciplined in the future.  Still, a very impressive game.

Nothing says MEGA GAME!!!! like a full Soviet tank regiment!

A British artillery battery attempts to slow the horde.  Good luck!

The Soviets roll including the BMP-2 battalion on the flank.

Initial NATO defenders are brushed aside.

The British FO is killed as the BMPs roll west.

The British artillery park repositions to the rear (run away!) as the Soviet tank horde forces its way through the interchange.

The Soviet Commander is not interested in losses.  Move west!

A BMP company loses some mounts but the surviving infantry hops aboard the remaining vehicles.

Traffic jam on the Autobahn.

The BMPs keep moving. 

An RAF Harrier strike obliterates a BTR company!  Ouch!  Good thing the Soviets have two more in the battalion!

The advance continues.

NATO reinforcements from the US and West Germany try to slow the Soviet thrust.  Good luck.  

British reinforcements turn and set up a strong position to stop the Soviet thrust.

The BMP battalion has lost about half of its vehicles now.  One company is essentially combat ineffective but no force has failed a morale check and routed.

A reduced company pushes ahead while the strongest remaining one takes up position in the woods to engage the British forces.

British tank fire kills off most of the leading BMPs.  The surviving infantry forms up and continues the attack.

A HIND attack looks neat, though most are shot down by West German AA fire.

The attacking infantry manage to kill two British tanks with RPGs and force the Centurion ARV platoon to route.  Well done!

At games end, the Soviets are still not across the river despite ~50% casualties.  NATO forces are hanging on by a shoestring.

Everything in Team Yankee is deadly!  The game moves fast, but at this concentration it might be more than the game system is designed to accommodate.

Thanks to all of the game masters and players who did a great job at presenting their games and dragging me along the various systems and forces.  Well done!

Time to decompress and paint more LW BOTB Germans.