Monks for Saga

Furious friars. Miffed monks. Piqued padres. Call them what you like, here is my next unit for games of Saga. Standing in for levies, with a few special rules to offend their opponents, they can be used in any warband that is not Viking-based.

The pack of twelve from Gripping Beast includes only four poses, so I swapped out most of their weapons with agricultural implements to create a better impression of variety. A couple of figures also got shields ("…Brother Thomas, ever the pragmatist, was of the firm opinion that when fighting Vikings one needed more that the shield of faith and the sword of spirit." He was supported in this stance by Brother Winston the Englishman, who argued that 'one should first fight Vikings on the beaches, and then in the fields, and then in the hills, if any of us are left'. " )

These used the same speed-painting style I used for the rest of my Saga figures: prime; block and detail; Army Painter dip; and a simple single-stage highlight to finish.

Red Army Assault Engineers

Its been a very long time since I added any models to my Soviet force. This is despite having a comprehensive collection of late war Red Army figures in the lead pile. Every time I made a decision as to what to paint next, the Soviets got pushed down the list.

Two things combined to get these lads on to the painting table. First, another whole army of Soviets - an early war force thanks to the Baker Company Winter War Kickstarter - are due to arrive soon, and I felt I needed to make a start on what I already had. Second, earlier in the year I had rashly entered a painting challenge over on The Guild board - and when the first theme for the year was announced as  "Armour", these figures got the nod.

The figures are from Warlord games, and were the usual Warlord quality: characterful sculpts with a few small casting flaws here and there, but overall a pleasure to paint.

Its got me thinking as to whats next for my Soviet force. This unit need some transport, and it wont do to give them a softskin... White Scout car or two? M5 halftracks? Whatever it is it will be bristling with .30 and .50 Brownings...

Scots for Saga

Every now and then I give myself a break from painting World War 2 miniatures. It rests my eyes a bit, allows me to paint with a different palette, and I like to chose figures that either dont need any research (scifi, fantasy etc) or are from an era that I know so little about that I dont bother with research. It allows me to paint "instinctively" and experiment with new techniques.

Here are the fruits of such a break - a 6 point Saga warband painted using a much faster technique than I am used to - block, detail, army painter dip and then a basic highlight on each colour. The figures are from Gripping Beast, and I must say they were a pleasure to paint - clear, uncluttered detail and clean castings. Shield and banner decals are from Little Big Men Studios.

Before these pix were taking this warband got two severe maulings - the first from a Viking warband (the traditional first game mauling that any freshly painted wargame army gets) and the second the same evening from one of the family cats: I had left the tray of figures on a table in the entrance hall after getting back from the game, and felix domesticus had decided to investigate. Most of the force was on the floor by the time I intervened.

Some figures required repairs to weapons and shields, and small touchups....

Natal Mounted Rifles M5 Halftrack

This is another Natal Mounted Rifles vehicle that I have recently completed: an M5 halftrack. Rivet counters should avert their eyes, because this is a highly speculative representation.

Firstly, I am not 100% sure that the NMR used halftracks in Italy. The M5s are mentioned in a August 1944 operations report as being the most suitable vehicle for the NMR infantry platoons, but it is not clear whether the author was suggesting they be used in the future , or reporting on their previous use.

Secondly, I am not at all sure that the NMR M5s (if the regiment indeed used them) were painted in the Light Mud/Blue Black pattern. No photograph of which I am aware shows South African halftracks in anything other that Olive Drab or SCC 15. Its not clear exactly when the SA 6th Armoured Division received its first halftracks, but one source suggests that it was as late as May 1944. This is shortly before the issue of  "Allied Armies in Italy Routine Order 150" which detailed the repainting of all vehicles to a overall dark green or olive drab equivalent. So while it is possible this pattern was used for a short time, it is unlikely.

Despite the lack of solid evidence, I wanted to finish the vehicle in this way to maintain coherence with the rest of my force, which is currently exclusively in Light Mud/Blue Black pattern. I know I need to add a number of Olive Drab vehicles to my force shortly, to represent the Division later in the war, but frankly I am not looking forward to that - to me those vehicles will lose their distinct "Italian Campaign" identity and look like too many other  late war Allied forces in Europe.

This is the resin kit from Warlord Games, with baggage from Warlord and Die Waffenkammer.

 

Partisans and civilians

I have added a cadre to my partisan forces. I was hoping to make them generic enough to be used in various theatres, but I feel they ended up a bit b'twixt and b'tween - a little bland, and not evocative of any classic partisan force.

Maybe its the result of the figures coming from such diverse sources - there are Westwind Volksturm, Artizan Maquis, and even Empress SCW republicans represented in the handful of figures. If anything the figures with Beretta's place them in Northern Italy, but the urban fighters suggest Krakow or Warsaw.

Saboteur squad.

Some of these figures underwent simple conversion - the prone figure originally features a DP machinegun, and a swapped that out with a plastic Bolt Action MG34, the Westwind Volksturm weapons were replaced with Bolt Action equivalents (to help conformity of scale) and one of the Beretta-equipped Empress figures got a headswap.

The civilians - these figures are from Westwind – were an absolute pleasure to paint. Each sculpt is characterful, and I found myself inventing a backstory for each one as I painted them: "rumour around the town has it that brave little Primo, son of the fascist mayor, has been defying his father and running errands for the local partisans..."

How can you tell who is a collaborator and who is a patriot? Who is a fascist and who is a communist? Who can you trust?

Valentino, who worked for the local butcher, was often seen on his bike making deliveries around the village. Strange, since the Tedesci had helped themselves to all the livestock in the village, and the butcher seldom had stock...

I am not sure if the civilian figures will ever make it on to a table - but I really wanted to paint them anyway. Maybe they could be objective markers for a game featuring a partisan force...

South African Reinforcements

Towards the end of 2013 I completed a few more troops and vehicles for my South African 6th Armoured Division in Italy 1944.

First was an additional squad of First City/Cape Town Highlanders infantry, bring the totals up to enough to allow my Bolt Action force organisation to have two platoons. These are Warlord Games plastic British Infantry, built out of the box, with the exception of a few headswaps, and a few alterations of pose - including a prone Bren gunner (the Warlord plastic British sprues dont include a prone figure).

I used thin foil (from a scalpel blade wrapper) for the rifle sling.

I then experimented with mixing Perry and Warlord parts to try to create troops in summer kit in Italy. The difference in scale between the Perry and the Warlord plastics is significant, and is most noticable in the size of the heads and helmets, and the scale of the weapons. These figures are Perry with Warlord heads and/or helmets, and parts of the Warlord rifles.

The PIAT team was another Perry/Warlord mashup. I like the diversity of poses found in the Perry set, which I think lend themselves to some more "natural" and less dramatic poses than the Warlord figures. (Its such a pity the Perry figures are so small. Alongside my Artisan 8th army they look like a different scale.)

Lastly, I added an artillery liaison team. I think these are all Warlord figures -  I had to swap out one of the Warlord FOO team figures as it was depicted with a Sten gun - a weapon that (to my knowledge) was not used by the South Africans.

The vehicles had been on my painting desk for the longest time, and I simply had to complete them to free up space and energy for new projects. Both depict vehicles used by the Natal Mounted Rifles - the dedicated reconnaissance regiment of 6th Armoured Division.

I had completed another Stuart Recce previously, so here is a NMR family portrait:

A(nother) bridge too far...

16th SS Panzergrenadiers force the Royal Marine Commandos from their positions on the east bank of the railway bridge. Pic copyright of and courtesy of David Davidson.

The first meeting of 2014 for the Peninsula Wargames Group saw thirteen players gather for a large Bolt Action game - a hypothetical scenario based (very loosely) on events in the Italian campaign.

German forces comprised just over 5000pts of 16th SS Panzergrenadiers, 362 Infantry Division (known throughout the game as "the Armenians") and a mixed 4th Fallschirmjager/RSI Nembo company. Facing them were 3 platoons of American Infantry, including a platoon of Nisei, 2 platoons of the 24th Guards Brigade, and a RM Commando platoon - also totalling over 5000 points. Each force generated just on 60 order dice. We played it on a 6 x 12 ft table, with 6 players per side and 1 umpire.