Bolt Action - Here come the Yanks.

For a while now, I have played Flames of War (FOW) and little else. Whilst I enjoy FOW, it is time to expand my horizons.

There are a number of things that drew me to BA, the games I have seen look amazing - with beautifully painted figures and well prepared tables. It is a WWII game which is a period I am particularly interested in. The most popular scale is 28mm so presents a new painting challenge. There seems to be a large and healthy community and finally a couple of mates already play it.

My first FOW army was a US Rifle Company assembled many years ago. Starting BA with a US force seemed like a good choice. I started with a Warlord Games US infantry box.

Figure Frame.

My first thought as I cracked open the box was to wonder what I had gotten myself in to. The box was filled with 5 figure frames and 3 weapons frames. There were hundreds of pieces, all to make 25 infantry! However as I consulted the instructions, it didn't seem so daunting. Each frame provided a number of options designed to make a variety of poses with a variety of weapons.

Weapons Frame

The first couple of figures were a bit of a slog. However I quickly got into a rhythm of looking up the instructions and picking the correct arms and weapons for the poses I needed. I assembled an NCO with a Thompson Sub machine gun, 2 men with BARs and 5 GIs with Garand Rifles.

Instruction Sheet.

It has been more than 10 years since I painted a 28mm figure so I did a little research and read some of the excellent articles on the WWPD pages and looked at the amazing pictures on the Australian and New Zealand BA Facebook page to draw inspiration. There are some real gun painters out there. I figured if my figures look half as goods as theirs, I would be doing OK.

Initial Assembly

I chose to use a similar technique that I have used on my FOW figures and borrowed some ideas from what I have seen on the net. After a white undercoat and a base coat, I would hit the models with a strong tone wash before a highlight of the base colour again. Finally, I would do a second highlight with a 70/30 mix of the base colour and VJ Iraqi Sand.

Close up before dull coat.

After some feedback on the Bolt Action Australia and New Zealand Facebook page, I hit the helmets with a lighter dry brush and I think this worked well.

These are no masterpieces but I am happy overall with my first BA efforts.

BARs

BARs

I hope you enjoyed this article.

Rifles

Review: Battlefront Daimler I (BR311)

Daimler Is are scouting ahead of a hasty attack.

Earlier, I shared a review of some Staghounds. Some Daimler Is are now ready to join the force.

History:
Fitted with a 95 horse-power engine, the Daimler I was developed in line with the smaller Daimler Dingo. The armoured car was equipped with 4 wheel steering and fully independent suspension. The vehicle was crewed by 3: a driver, a gunner and a commander. The standard Daimler I was fitted with a 2 pound gun and a coaxial machine gun. To improve anti-tank penetration, some vehicles in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) were fitted with a Little-John adapter. The Little John operated with the squeeze bore principle which increased muzzle velocity by increasing barrel pressure.

Review:
This is another of the resin and metal models that really is still the standard for most Battlefront products. The kit contains a hull and turret in resin. The kit comes with a standard 2 pound or 2 pound with Little John adapter options. Each blister contains one model.

Assembly was a breeze. The hatch of the Daimler wasn't hinged but rather slid back. Therefore an unbuttoned hatch would sit flat behind the commander. I want to upgrade the commander of each of my 2 units to a Little John adapter equipped gun so I have assembled a mix of standard 2 pound guns and Little Johns.

I didn't have any real cleanup with these. There were the usual mould lines on the wheels, barrels and other metal parts. As is normal, the wheels were dry fitted and a few required adjustment to fit correctly. The only really time consuming part was hollowing out the back of the mantlets to fit on the front of the turret. The moulding process had left a little extra metal in the back. I used a hobby knife to remove enough for a good fit. No biggie.

These are really lovely models and I think BF have done a great job of capturing the wide sweeping curves of this car. Along with the Staghound, I have really enjoyed painting up my 2nd Househould Cavalry force. More to come!

Painting:
And here are the pictures of these painted up.

I hope you enjoyed this review.

Note the Little John Adapter on the commanders vehicle

Note the unusual unbuttoned hatch position

And one with the Staghounds:

Treasures from the Top Drawer III: Battlefront Matilda IIs

Today I take some Queens of the Desert through their paces.

These old Matilda tanks have been sitting in my spares box for a while. A friend of mine had them sitting in his spares box before that. About time they received some attention. I don't have any Soviet Matilda IIs, so I will paint them up as Lend Lease vehicles.

Bits from the box.

Here they are in their full neglected glory. These are very old, dark resin Battlefront models. Sadly they are not in great condition. Aside from needing flash removal, some of the tracks and one of the hulls are cracked. One of the hatches seems to have been made by being filled with glue or epoxy and moulded into shape. There are 2 hatch covers missing totally. One of the barrels has been replaced by metal rod, the other is missing all together. So, some work to do!

I cut the mantlet off a metal Sherman 75mm gun sprue to make a new Matilda barrel. The small hatch was made from the casting attached to the gun. It was simply trimmed to size. The commander was from my spares box. I chose not to try and find a hatch for that as I couldn't think of a good way of doing it and figured people were unlikely to notice it was missing. Finally I cleaned up and assembled the model.

Doing some research, it seems that most but not all British Lend Lease vehicles were left in their original colours. Some were painted as they were sent for repair. I have chosen to paint mine as repaired vehicles. Given their cracks and scratch built parts, it seemed appropriate.

It has been raining solidly for a week here in Sydney so I brushed on a white undercoat rather than spraying. I then base coated the model in Soviet Green. I then washed the model in Strong Tone. I highlighted the tank with a mix of the base colour and some Iraqi Sand. I followed this up with a light edge highlight of green gray. The tracks were painted black and dry brushed flat earth. I tried something different and brushed on matt varnish. It seems to have worked well.

Not bad for old models that have been sitting unloved all this time.

I hope you enjoyed this post.

Review: Battlefront M10C Tank destroyer Platoon (UBX49)

Today I review the recently released Battlefront Tank Destroyer Platoon box.

Cover box art (from flamesofwar.com)

The Tank Destroyer box contains enough frames to make 4 M10s, 4 M36s or 4 M10C or any combination of the three. There are 2 frames for each vehicle packed with all the pieces needed to make the three different options. The frames also contain a few pieces of stowage - spare track, spare wheels, crates and Jerry cans. Finally, the box contains a crew frame for each vehicle with 6 figures each and a sheet of decals.

I have chosen to make mine up as the M10C. Post war, this vehicle was named the Achilles.

History:
The M10 was a US made tank destroyer, based on the chassis of the Sherman. Unlike the Sherman, the M10 had slopped and thinner armour. This lighter weight design allowed the vehicle to travel quickly. the vehicle was armed with a 3 inch gun and a 0.50 caliber machine gun.

Achilles crossing a river on a Churchill ARK

From 1943, M10s were supplied to the British. The British converted some 1100 to the more powerful 17 pound gun. The British employed both 17lb and 3 inch gun versions. The Achilles was used in a rapid deployment anti-tank role. Some Achilles were sent ashore on D-Day.

Achilles

Review:
First up, this is one of the new Battlefront plastic kits. I was initially guilty of lamenting the end of the old resin and metal box sets. However, I have changed my tune. The new plastics are great. Best of all, they keep improving. Not just the detail but the extras (stowage), versatility (3 models in one box) and the fit. Yes, there is more construction but I think the result is a better looking vehicle.

Tank Destroyer frames with crew and details at top.

The back of the box shows what bits belong to which model. This makes it very simple to work out what is required. The flames of war website contains a very simple set of assembly instructions.

The back of the box. (from flamesofwar.com)

Assembly was pretty straightforward. There are some very nice features to this kit. Firstly most of the mould lines and frame attachment areas end up unseen. BF have done a good job with this. You don't need to necessarily clean up every point, just the ones that are visible. Secondly the barrels and mantlets all have different connections. This means that you cannot attach the wrong gun to a mantlet.

My only real gripe with assembly was the 50 cal MG. The barrel is really fine and hard to clip from the frame without bending or breaking. Eventually I worked out to simply remove the frame from around the MG rather than clipping the MG out.

I think this kit is terrific for the US Tank destroyers. Sadly for the British TD, the crew are not in the kit. According to the BF article, these need to be ordered seperatly. For someone with an existing British force, you will likely have some spare crew from your spares box, however for someone starting out, you will need to buy four of these if you want to model the vehicle with crew. Likewise with decals, these are US focused. Yes, there is a common air recognition symbol but no British-specific decals. For someone looking to make an Achilles, it is still a good kit, there is simply just more work and possibly expense involved

As is the new BF standard, this box doesn't come with magnets. Instead the turret pins are modeled onto each frame. I have only just started trying these so I have yet to form an opinion on them. I will say though that they are easier to apply than the magnets.

Look out for an upcoming painting post. I hope you enjoyed this review.

Upcoming Event - EW V4 GT Hall of Heroes Sydney

Today I preview the first Australian GT using the new V4 rules.

Each year, there are 3 FOW Grand Tournaments, one for each period. Traditionally, the EW GT is in December and the MW GT is June. However given that the MW books for V4 have just been released, the periods have been swapped. So, June 10th and 11th will be the EW GT.

In the past, the GTs have seen up to 30 players rolling dice at the store. Players from Sydney, Canberra, the NSW Central Coast and Hunter Valley regularly complete. Occasionally players from even further afield travel down for the weekend.

The store has an extensive gaming area, painting area, retail space and even a cafe serving hot foot and coffee. The Hall of Heroes is located at 60 Queen Street, Campbelltown. The phone number is 02 4625 8020. The email address is campbelltown@hallofheroes.com.au

If like me, you want to get 5 games of EW, then why not come down for the weekend. The event will be 1550 with lists from Blitzkrieg, Burning Empires, Hellfire and Back, Rising Sun, Barbarossa, Gung-Ho and Banzai, online digital-only lists (Forces of War) or any approved/official Early War PDF. The player pack and further details can be found here.

Painting: Axis and Allies Panzer IV Short 75

A while back I reviewed the Axis and Allies Panzer IV short 75s. In summary, I have had these on the shelf for many years. They are basic models, are the right scale and fully assembled. They are not going to win any beauty pageants but they will allow me to see if the unit fits into the plan for my new list. You can find my full review here.

History:
The Panzer IV was one of the mainstays of the German forces in WW2 with over 8500 being built. It was the only tank to remain in production right through the war. The short barrel versions A - F1 were designed as infantry support tanks. The short 75mm gun was equipped for both HE and AT rounds. The F1 was the last short barrel model.

It became apparent that the Panzer III, originally designed as a anti-tank platform, was no longer viable in this role when it's gun could not be upgraded due to the small size of the turret. The Panzer IV F2 was built around a long barrel 75mm gun and the Panzer III was discontinued.

Painting:
I followed my normal scheme and process for these tanks. You can see more detail about these in my earlier PZIII posts. Being that these are only going to be a trial, I didn't add any stowage. The Axis and Allies models don't easy allow open hatches so I will need to mark the commanders vehicle once I get to the decal stage. I will do this with the whole company at the end of the project.

Until then, I hope you enjoyed this article.