Zvezda Opel Blitz and Katyushas

 All right, finally an update with the weather getting snowy again.  I have been trying to build up a supply of base coated figures to last me through the cold months ahead.  But I took some time out to quickly finish a couple things that I had started a while ago.  Five Opel Blitz trucks from Zvezda to use as generic transportation for my Germans.  I'm not sure if they were painted in Panzer Grey throughout the war but I figured it was a safe assumption and now I have them for all periods.    

I also finished the four Katyushas I had lying around.  These are also Zvezda Models and provide the first artillery support for my Soviets.  The kits were a bit of a pain to but together but painted up the models look just fine.  

French Escadron De Combat Somua S-35s

So due to some deals on ebay I have found myself collecting some early war french. It all start with picking up twelve Somua S-35s cheaply.  I have since managed to get some Panhard armoured cars as well and with some British Infantry should be enough to make this list.

 
The Somuas have now been painted up, and I just need to pick the Panhards up from the mail.  The Somuas were fun to paint and surprisingly I didn't even mind black lining the camo.  I also painted on unit markings and national markings which turned out ok I think.

The 12 tanks together.

Little bit closer.

A close up, and view of the unit markings.

I also figured I would include a couple pictures of a day at the "office" from a couple days before since it was on the camera as well.

70th Anniversary of Dieppe

Today was the 70^th Anniversary of the raid on Dieppe by the Second Canadian Division in 1942.  A good overview of the raid can be found here. Dieppe Raid at Flames of War  The raid is not very well remembered  in Canada although it does get the odd mention in the media around anniversaries.  I was lucky enough to visit there this last winter with my dad and brother. 

The most noticeable thing on visiting Dieppe is how difficult the task would have been for the attacking force.  The beach is steep and rocky and fronted fully by the town.  In turn the town is surrounded by high impassable cliffs with a very limit number of egress points.  All in all it seems to even the untrained eye like a ridiculous place to mount an attack but regardless thousands of young Canadians were sent there to attempt it.  In a personal connection my mother’s uncle served with the Essex Scottish regiment who were badly mauled at Dieppe although he had not yet joined the regiment at the time of the raid.

Castle overlooking the beach.

My brother walking on the pebble beach.

Gun ports cut into the castle.

More gun ports.

Essex Scottish Regiment memorial.

View from bunker overlooking the town.

Beach

I think this is Green Beach at Pourville.

Italian Medium Tanks

After purchasing some Italian Medium Tanks off ebay I decided to paint them up.  They came partially painted with a basecoat and a bit of detail.  Basically I tried to touch them up and add some camo and then give them a wash with Devlan Mud.  They came out ok although some of the basecoats were a bit lighter than others.  I was hoping the wash would even them all out but that didn't really happen.  I was going for a scheme like this tank on display at the Bovington Museum (not my picture although I have been there).  I need to but some decals for these guys to finish them off and then look at picking up some support options, hopefully ones that can be used in both early and mid war.

As a group they look good

But here you can see the one on the right is a lighter shade

 

Fallschrimjager Tank Hunters

I've painted up von Der Heydte and his Fallschrimjager Tank Hunters.   This gives me two panzershreck teams and 4 panzerfaust trap teams.  I painted them by base coating them with army painter Bleached Bone.  Then used GW catachan green and bestial brown for the splinter camouflage.  I then washed the whole figure in devlan mud, which really is awesome and I would highly recommend it for 15mm figures.  The bleached bone base coat looked quite light but with the wash it darkened to a nice tan colour.  Not sure when I will get around to basing these guys.     

Somua S35's and Other ebay purchases

I've been painting 4 of the Somua S35s I got off ebay.  I am under the impression that they are older battlefront sculpts.  I am enjoying painting the french camouflage scheme.  Even the black outline isn't proving too onerous.  All I have left to do is add some details, give them a wash, and then some markings.  And then do 8 more...

I also ended up with a number of British and Italian tanks for the desert and the real prize was a platoon of M10 Achilles for when I eventually do Canadians.   

I also got 11 SAS Jeeps and their dismounted stands, not sure I will ever get to use these but they do look cool.

 

Happening Things in Hobby World

So in recent gaming developments I actually played a game of Warhammer Fantasy recently.  Incredible that it can actually happen.

We played a two player team game. My Dark Elves allied with Skaven against Warriors of Chaos and Demons.  The non-chaos evil guys did not bad but it was most likely a draw when we called it.  A couple things of note from the game.  Having two magic heavy armies share the same dice pool and then consistently rolling below average can be frustrating.  I guess sharing the dice pool is the standard way to do it and would probably work if you both planned your army-lists together from the start but it wasn't the best for two independent armies.  

Also my list really is designed for 7th edition.  I have a few 20-25 person blocks and then lots of smaller support units.  The Demon army had 3 units total all hordes of over 50 models.  I like to think that on a board with lots of space I could have outmanoeuvred him and worn him down with flank and rear charges.  But on a cramped board and a half more poor elves had no chance. Overall it was fun to play a game but left me wanting to play a different game, like Flames of War.  Which is a funny transition into....

My new VAMPIRE COUNTS ARMY!

This is my first army that has every reached real horde status 3 blocks of 40 infantry and a bus of 20 knights.  40 zombies isn't a ton compared to most VC armies but it is more guys than I have ever had in a unit.  The black knights are actually older Chaos knights, but with rusty armour and glowing eyes I think they should end up looking pretty good.  Not sure how actively I'll paint this army since my enthusiasm for fantasy is not what it once was.  But it was a good deal so it's not a bad thing to have waiting in the wings.



DeathSquads Prisoner Exchange 2012--  Prisoner Recieved

Mudboy on the forum sent me this sweet Ogryn Sniper all the way from Denmark.  I think this means I have to finish the rest of the squad sometime soonish.