Monday 5 February 2018

From AlanD - Crusaders (no, not those Crusaders) (69 points)


We have a great project going in our gaming group at the moment to do up some armies for Battle Group Tobruk in 15mm. I have the Brits, and these are the first painted models I have to show for it.



I remember as a little chap poring over the Airfix catalogue and loving the appearance of the Crusader tank. I never made a model of one before, but now I have made nine. These are all Flames of War models, painted to represent Crusader IIs from the 3rd County of London Yeomanry during Operation Crusader.

I had some fun with the crew figures, and I am particularly pleased with the infantry officer up consulting with the commander on one of the vehicles.


Five of the models are the new Flames of War plastic kits, and four the old resin and metal ones. The plastic ones are really great, showing up the shortcomings of the resin kits, particularly in the dimensions of the turret. (The plastic kit is the one on the left, below).


I'm really looking forward to getting these on the table!

That should be 54 points for the nine tanks, and maybe another 6 for the crew? Whatever our friendly minion decides.

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What a fine submission, Alan!  The Crusader really was a wonderful looking tank.  These something about those angular lines on the turret and the long sleek profile.  Maybe its also because we only think of them, in our mind's eye, as rolling over endless horizons of desert sand and dust.  Like you, that Airfix Catalogue of many years gone-by had a strong hold on my imagination as a young boy!

You've done wonders with both the fine Battlefront kit and also the older resin ones.  Both will look brilliant on the tabletop.  I love the crew commanders, poking up and scanning the horizon, and the infantry officer hopping on the tank to shout instructions is just wonderful.

Definitely 54 points for the tanks, half-points for each tank commander and crewman (legs hidden), and full points for the infantry officer.  So I make that 54 points and 15 points, for a grand total of 69 points.  Great work, Sir!

18 comments:

  1. Maaaaate- they look awesome!!! The homemade pennants and aerials are great too. Cant wait to see them across the table soon!

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  2. Nice work Paul - I've always wanted to build and paint some Crusaders, but it will be a long while before I even consider doing WW2 Western Desert :)

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  3. Lovely looking tanks with all their kit and stowage, they're great!
    Best Iain

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  4. Top work on these tanks, Paul, really nice!

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  5. A great looking tank platoon, well done

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  6. My all time favourite desert theatre tank and done so well!

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  7. Great work - and the pennants set the whole thing off!

    Crusaders for Operation Crusader - perfect!

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  8. Great job on these Crusaders - one of my favourite AFVs. Love the pennants.

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  9. Who's this Paul guy? :) An iconic tank of the desert campaign - the aerial pennants really finish them off nicely. Well done Dux.

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    1. Wow, a guy misses a routine submission for a week or two and he is lost to memory... I better pick up my game!

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    2. Nah mate, I was just inferring that there were a few folks commenting above thinking this was your work. ;)

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    3. Well I'm flattered! I think this is some of Alan's finest work in 15mm (and I've seen most of it on the table at some point!)

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  10. Very nice. Good detail with the aerial and pennants. That takes some patience.
    Cheers

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  11. Paul, ironically, is the guy who will get to blow them all up when we play Battle Group Tobruk.

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  12. Those look great, Dux! Thought they were 28s, and was wondering why anyone would need so many...

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