From GregB: Cold War Canadian Continuation (36 points)

More Canadian armour for the Cold War - 1/100 models from "Armies Army"

Greetings to all AHPC participants and viewers! Sorry to have missed a week, but 1-to-1 scale matters had to take precedence over the brushes last week and therefore I had a big, fat, nothing to report last time.  This was, of course, all rather unsettling, as lack of any painting time tends to cause mental distress, paranoid sentiment that I may forget how to paint etc. so it is with considerable relief I can at least show you a few more items this week!  The theme is no surprise at all - continuing to round out the basic elements of my 15mm Cold War-era Canadian troops for "Team Yankee".

My prior submission had included Canadian Cold War-era infantry, but for the 1980s the infantry need a ride to battle, and for the Canadian forces of the mid-1980s in Europe this ride would have come in the form of the M113 armoured personnel carrier. 

Ugh. M113s. So, so lame...but at least the large decals on the front add a bit of clear character...

We all have painting subjects we dislike, but perhaps can't avoid due to the circumstances of the given period or setting, don't we? Well, for me, the M113 is one such subject.  Where painting NATO tanks tends to be a whole lot of fun, painting an M113 is like throwing some acrylic on a frozen turd. An unlovely box on treads, the M113 is utterly devoid of character, charm, personality or the slightest hint of fun. No turret. No cool vents.  You look at these things and wonder what the point is? Considering the debauched, comically-expensive-but-at-least-sexy-ish outcomes the western military industrial complex is capable of (see here for current example) the existence and near-ubiquitous deployment of this useless-box vehicle throughout Western forces and their client nations is a real downer from the wargaming perspective - the weaponization of the lowest bidder.  I know the Soviet BMPs were cramped, maybe not always quality, and had a spotty performance record at best - but at least they look cool, and are fun to paint...

Commander popped out of the hatch to a) represent the platoon commander's track and b) add some character to the otherwise un-inspiring silhouette of the M113 APC

From a strictly Canadian perspective, we purchased cool tanks from Germany - why not purchase their awesome infantry fighting vehicles too? Really, anything that you will drive in a war - let's just use common sense, and buy from Germany! Sadly, no...you can't avoid the M113 if you want to paint Cold War forces from Canada. The stupid M113 was the core APC for the main mechanized infantry elements of the 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, and as such, they would have to be painted if I wanted to reflect the infantry in my tabletop forces...so here we are...

These models are from "Armies Army" (now available from Plastic Soldier Company).  They are mixed resin and metal kits.  While my love for Armies Army is un-diminished, and I salute Keith's valiant and amazing efforts to bring Cold War Canadians to life in 15mm, I must acknowledge that his M113s were...tricky...you won't have to look hard to spot the gaps between the tread assemblies and the fenders.  In this case I must sadly report that Battlefront's plastic M113s are probably the better way to go...

Adding to the M113 painting misery is the awful camouflage paint scheme Canada used on these vehicles in the 1980s. One of the colours seems like...I'm not sure..."Puke Green"? Come on, Canada! Sheesh.  Anyway, to counter the misery, I used a mix of decals from Armies Army as well as a useful 1/87 sheet for things like Canadian flags and license-plates.  The 1/87 decals are oversize for the scale, but they help the nationality stand out a bit more on the table, and help to limit the flavour of the odious camouflage.

1/100 Leopard C1 from Armies Army - with the "1B" marking I think he is the "Battle Captain" from "A" Squadron...although there is a high chance I'm wrong about that...anyway, popped out commander and blue flowers to indicate the MBT is part of the Squadron command troop.

Leopard C1 with dozer blade attached on the front - an excellent little touch from Armies Army!! It will have no impact in game terms, just a cool thing to include from a completeness perspective...

To wash the terrible flavour of painting stupid M113s out of my mouth, I finished off another pair of Leopard C1s as well.  Positively refreshing!  These are both from the excellent Armies Army, and another element of Keith's utterly complete rendering of these troops can be glimpsed by the presence of a dozer blade mounted to one of the Leopards in the photos.  One Leopard C1 in each squadron had a dozer blade, useful for various battlefield engineering tasks (in particular helping to prepare hull-down firing positions for the other Leopards).  Full marks again to Armies Army for bringing out such an utterly complete collection of models and figures!!!

Canadian armoured squadron, ready to roll out!

And so I have the very basic elements of a battlegroup from 4CMBG in place for "Team Yankee" gaming - a squadron of Leopard C1s and an attached mechanized infantry platoon from either the RCR or the Vandoos. All in this has been just about what...five or six weeks of painting? Of course in a similar period Dave would have painted 1200 Mahdists in 28mm, but still, zero to a useful force in that time period is not too bad!  Here is a photo of the battlegroup to date.

Basic battlegroup from 4CMBG - Leopard C1 squadron with attached infantry support - ready to stand fast in the NATO lines!

Whatever I think of the M113s, at least these fellows will have a ride to take them around the battlefield!

Points wise, this submission is six vehicles in 15mm or 1/100 scale...so, I think, 36 points? Jamie will get it sorted.

I have certainly managed to address my "Must.Paint.Tanks." craving over these past several weeks...might be time to switch subjects...who knows? We'll see what next week might bring...just hope it brings something!

Is that the faint lilt of the Canadian National Anthem I can hear in the background as I read this submission?  The sound of the swish a hockey stick makes as it whizzes towards the puck drifting through the air?  And the distant bellow of a moose?

Here's hoping nobody from the Pentagon is reading this as you pour scorn on Canada's very early attempt to "make America Great Again" by buying boxy and unsuitable vehicles instead of better German versions?

Enough tomfoolery from me, I like the M113!  I even like the green you've used....... They remind me of the Rhinos of the 31st and 41st millenia..... which is no doubt where the early GW designers got their "inspiration" from ;)  Although, if truth be told, I also dislike painting rhinos as they are just boxy and boring.... like you, it's the decals that are the fun bits so I'm pleased to see you found some to relieve your boredom, especially as I see you had to do exactly the same camo on each one!

Those Leopards are as brilliant as always and that's a mighty fine looking (historical buffs look away now......) battalion/brigade/chapter/brotherhood/cabal that you've pulled together in this time - I dread to think how many Soviet tanks this lot was supposed to hold back though!

From GregB - US Mechanized Infantry for Team Yankee (118 points)

US Mechanized infantry in 15mm

Another "Team Yankee" offering in this submission - US mechanized infantry and M113 armoured personnel carriers.

Modern US infantry in 15mm from Peter Pig

It has been nearly two months now since Battlefront "released" their US mechanized infantry figures for their new "Team Yankee" range. Many companies can experience delays in getting their products shipped, but the supply chain Battlefront uses is so glacial that I often snap my crayons, give up waiting, and use an alternate product.  I used Eureka 15mm Soviets in place of the Battlefront motor rifles, and I have opted to use Peter Pig modern US troops instead of waiting any longer for the Battlefront "releases" to reach Canada via whatever snail-driven hot air balloon they use for shipping.

More US grunts

US Mech Company command stand - blue flowers to denote officer

The Peter Pig troops - actually listed as "US Marines" in their website - are a little more modern than the ones from "Team Yankee", more 1990s-2000s than 1980s.  The body armour is a little different, small differences in the harnesses etc.  The only really noticeable difference is the portable anti-tank weapons.  In "Team Yankee", this is the M-47 Dragon missile launcher, but these figures are carrying the AT-4 rocket launcher.  I'm not 100% sure, but I think the AT-4 is a little later than the M-47...but I have no idea what the differences actually are...also, the Peter Pig line does not have a casting carrying an M72 LAW rocket.

AT-4 teams stand in place of the Dragon AT teams

A view of the camo and webbing

Despite the differences, the Peter Pig castings stand in very well. Peter Pig makes, in my opinion, some of the best 15mm castings out there.  The sculpts are excellent, and the casting quality it top of the line.

The blue flowers denote platoon command base

Painting camouflage is the bane of any hobbyist, but the US Camouflage of the 1980s is particularly challenging.  I try to give an impression of the pattern more than copy it faithfully, particularly in a smaller scale. The results are not too bad.

Propaganda photos - US infantry confront Soviet dismounts near a rail line...

AT team has a surprise for that T-72...

To be mechanized, these fellows need a ride.  The M113s from Battlefront were nowhere to be found either, but it finally clicked that I could just order a box of Jordanian M113s from Battlefront's "Fate of A Nation" game and get the same models, so that's what I did.  Four M113s are enough to mount on platoon of troops - enough to at least get a game in.

M113s...ugliest APCs in existence

I think all of us have some models or figures in particular periods or settings that we dislike or dread painting, and for me, one of those is the M113.  I hate the look of this vehicle - it's just a lame box on some treads.  Whatever its merits in real life (and they might be considerable - I don't know personally, I'm a civilian) in the hobby perspective, these things are totally, totally lame.  The BMPs look waaaay cooler. 

Nice models of terrible vehicles

You will notice that none of these M113s have tread covers on...the crappy quality of the plastic struck again, with the tread covers snapping when I tried to clip them off the sprues, so I just avoided them entirely on these models.

Battlefront plastic strikes again...

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And now a short diversion on something I noticed in the "Team Yankee" rule book.  One thing I do appreciate about Battlefront is their painting guides - they have a lot of them in their books, and I find them to be generally helpful.  They often combine art work from Osprey books with Vallejo paint recommendations. I was particularly pleased to see one for the US infantry camouflage in the "Team Yankee" rule book, and once I received the figures from Peter Pig and started painting, I opened up to the guide and noticed something odd...

I thought this was really, really dumb.  Like, really?  I don't know the stats, but I'm confident a large number of the front line troops in the US Army of the 1980s were African American.  So, there was no way to give us a painting guide for that? Just....this was really, really dumb. I could probably say a lot more, but really...I'll just get back to the post.

*** 

So there are a total of 47 infantry and four vehicles, all in 15mm size, in this submission, for a total of 118 points.  Should keep me within a possible striking distance of Byron in the "Modern Mayhem" side duel.

Completed US forces to date for "Team Yankee"

With this I will have concluded my little "modern tear" over the past couple of weeks.  I have enough 15mm stuff on hand now to play a few games and get a sense of the rules.  Even better, if I've done the math right (and that is always a bit of an "if"), this submission will take me past my points goal. WOOHOO! But as the end of this installment of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge comes in sight, I REALLY need to get back to some 30k stuff - I hope I will have more to share before things conclude. 

Brilliant work Greg!

You've obviously been completely stoked to get this project off the ground as both your production and quality is outstanding. Both the infantry and the vehicles are spectacular - I also think your impressionistic approach to modern camo works magnificently and provides many of us with an alternate approach to this daunting task.

I actually had the great pleasure to play a game with these figures the other night with both Greg and Byron and can attest to their beauty on the tabletop. Those Hinds are things of terrible beauty.

Finally, congratulations on hitting your points target Greg! Well done, young man! I suspect that everything from here on in is in pursuit of the duels - keep up the steam!