From JamesM: 15mm German Armoured SS-Armoured Cannon Platoon (48 points)

Hi folks,

I've been continuing with my 15mm German half-track project, and this week have six Sd.Kfz. 251/9 Ausf. D vehicles from the 12th 'Heavy' kompanie of III/26. SS Panzergrenadier Regiment, 12SS Panzer Division.

The 'mittlerer Schützenpanzerwagen (7,5 cm)' (Sd. Kfz. 251/9) was created as a supporting vehicle for the mechanised infantry units of the German army and SS in mid 1942. Armed with an 7.5 cm K. 37 L/24 gun (the same 'short' 75mm gun that had been mounted on the early StuG and Panzer IVs, but later designated as 7.5 cm K. 51 (Sf.)), this vehicle lends some heavy direct firepower. In FoW terms, these vehicles are still dangerous to most allied tanks in the Normandy theatre. 

Still, they have negligible armour themselves - and being open topped are particular vulnerable to artillery and mortar fire.  

I've painted the six vehicles which (according to a full order of battle) would be assigned to the heavy support company of the battalion. For this, the hull numbers 443-448 have been used. 

Painting wise, I went with the same recipe as my other half-tracks. I used the Skytrex decals for the side and rear hull numbers, as the smaller ones I had used for this previously from Doms Decals didn't cover the number range I required. License plates and division symbol were also added. 

Foliage was added using seafoam 'branches' and leaf flock. Basing has been done to the same style as the rest of my 15mm Normandy collection. I focussed this on the front of the vehicles, where foliage might have been added to camouflage the vehicle in a hedge or treeline. 

For camo on these, I kept similar colours to those used before, but in a different camo pattern. I'm afraid I don't have the skills currently to airbrush, so the camo pattern is a little heavier and harder edged that I would have liked. However, at tabletop distances it will work. 

A close up of some of the unit

These models are 15mm Plastic Soldier Company kits (PSC) with the PSC upgrade sprue used to convert them into the 251/9 versions. Crew will be painted and added at a later date. 

This units completion leaves 12 more vehicles to finish on my planned Order of Battle (with 34 half-tracks or associated vehicles painted since November). 

Points wise, 6 x 15mm vehicles (8 points each) = 48 points. 

Lovely little half tracks James, it's nice to see these support vehicles with the 75mm gun.  As you say, they pack a punch but can't take any in return.  The decals, came and accoutrements look really good.  Well done.

(From RossM) Various scales and periods including Ancients, Crusaders and Seven Years War 15mm & 28mm (127 points)

 The second post for the early hours and this is a mixed bag of periods and scales.

Bavarian Seven Years War Artillery: 18mm Eureka Miniatures

24 Points

Arab Naffatun Skirmishers: 15mm Museum Miniatures

12 points

Early Imperial Romans: 15mm PSC Auxiliaries 

There are 17 of the new Ultra Cast figures here and 1 from Corvus Belli, don't ask which is the one though. Shield transfers from VVV.

36 points

Crusaders: 28mm Gripping Beast

These are the other eleven figures to make a unit in Lion Rampant and support the two handed sword wielding knight from the Pit and the Pendulum

Kept the colours here simple and bold. The shield transfers are from Little Big Men and have been overpainted to match the tabards. 

Have always liked the idea of painted helms and went with that. Not sure if its historical or artistic licence however, they look good in a mixed group. 

Here is the full unit with the Pendulum in full swing

55 points

Sub total for this post is 127 taking the running total to 309 points (52% completed to date)

Stay safe and thanks for looking

From MilesR: Good Lord, Not Another Stalingrad Related Post (1,720 Points)

 

Ha! made you look, this entry only really has 172 points!

The grind continues - In this submission there is yet another full Soviet Infantry Company  in 15mm scale.  The figures are from Plastic Soldier Company (PSC) and I'm almost done assembling and painting the Battalion box.

The company consists of 3 platoons (2 equipped with rifles and one with SMG's).

The 1st platoon, complete with 50mm Mortar section

The 2nd platoon and behind it the Company HQ (3 figures) plus the Companies heavy Machine gun section.

Lastly the 3rd Platoon.  These are based using the "no-painting" basing technique and I think blend in well with the terrain.

I am short of 50mm Mortars and will need to scratch build some.  I've got plenty of crew from the PSC box so hopefully they will not look too silly.

For a change of pace - how about some Germans.  8 snipers from Peter Pig.  The bulk of the German forces are being provided by friend and club member Tony M.  Thats a real boon for me as he is a MUCH better painter than me and it makes this project a bit more feasible to pull.

A little light armor support for the Germans in the form of 3 Panzer II's.  These are also Peter Pig models.  I really like PP's infantry but the vehicles leave me a bit cold.  They all have molded on storage which limits their utility for larger games.  If you only need one of two then these are fine models.

In terms of points this submission has 74 Infantry at 2 points each and 3 tanks at 8 points per panzer so that nets to 172 points.

I'm getting pretty close to done with the Stalingrad project and think, maybe a little break is in order.

Hmmm, what to do next.  maybe something of aquatic nature from a past undertaking?  Why, yes that is the ticket.

From JamesM: 15mm Cromwell tanks (24 points)

Hi folks,

Bit of a break since my last entry, new baby is taking up much time!

Continuing with my 1st Polish Armoured Division project, I've added the first of the combat platoons to the completed list. These are Cromwells from 10 Pulk Strzelcow Konnych (10th Polish Mounted Rifles). This was the Armoured Recce regiment of the Polish division. Painted as part of my Flames of War Normandy project. 

15mm Plastic Soldier Company models, on 60mm by 40mm bases. 

As usual, decals have been applied for the unit, aerials added and no need for magnets due to the turret pegs. Commander model to be added at a later date, and twin aerials help identify the command vehicle. 

These three tanks come in at 8 points each, giving 24 for the unit. This takes me above my target for this challenge (the joys of small targets!). Three more troops like this to do, and the whole unit will be finished. If only young Alex will give me the time...

From RossM: The First Post - Early Imperial Romans (52 points)

This is my first post for the AHPC XI and I don't really know where the time has gone. As the saying goes times flies when you are having fun and that's what this is all about; fun hobbies stuff.

This post has a mixture of supporting troop types for an ongoing project in 15mm: Early Imperial Romans. 

Unlike many projects this was initially down to luck. The luck being, getting a PSC Ultra Cast EIR box set off evil Bay at a very reasonable price. Then luck followed luck as a good number of Corvis Belle EIR figures came up on the same again at reasonable prices, allowing the force to be expanded to cover DBA and an ADLG army too, well nearly.

Making a conscious effort with this army to paint it by troop types starting with light infantry, in this case archers, slingers, javelin-men and a pair of scorpions to finish off the shooty death section. So without any more rambling on here are the finished figures:

Eight javelin armed skirmisher from the War and Empire range produced by Forged in Battle. Painted in drab colours to mark their status as lower classed troops. 

The bases are textured using Geek Gaming Scenics Base ready Patch Plains mixed then flocked with 2mm static grass to add colour and interest. This is a new process for 15mm figures and cuts out the need to glue sand, ink wash then dry brush the sand before flocking; its quicker and gives a good finish once over flocked. 

Next are eight slingers that are also from Forged in Battle. Both sets sit well beside the PSC 15mm figures if a little chunkier. 

The first of the PSC Ultra Cast figures with six skirmishing archers covering a scorpion and two crew. 

Once painted and at a distance there is no way of telling if these are metal or not. That is until they are picked up as there is practically no weight to them. That said the figures paint up well and provide a good basis for the core of an Early Imperial Roman army. It's a pity that the infantry and cavalry are only available in the boxed sets. 

Below is a group picture of the army so far with figures painted pre December 21st 2020 including two stands of three archers, three additional stands of skirmishing archers and a second scorpion. These are not included in the points total below.

Both the archers above and the scorpion below have been painted before the start date and are shown pre-black edge painting. 

So, there are a total of twenty four foot figures and 1 crewed weapon in 15mm giving a start to the points total of 52 or 8.67% of the target total of 600 points. Hope that this is correct and now it's time to start prepping the auxilia infantry with 38 figures waiting in the wings. 

Hope that you find these of interest and stay safe!

Cheers for now

From MilesR: 2 Chambers of Challenge Submissions - Minefields, Boats and Panzer III's (110 Points)

 

It high time I had some submissions for the very creative "Chambers of Challenge" course.  First up is a set of six mine field hexes for the Stalingrad project as part of the Hall of Traps chamber.  What you say these hexes look blank - well look a bit closer and you might see a hasty placed mine or two sticking out

Maybe you can see them better in this picture - look in the lower right hex and you'll see a black dot.  There are at least 10 mines in each hex.  During the game players will have the ability to replace "clear" hexes with mined ones and it their opponents stumble on them, well boom.  But if they're vigilant, they just might spot them.  We'll see if this works but I think it will be a fun way to add a little tension to a game.

The dark splotches will lighten a bit as the glue /grout dries over the course of a few days.

I guess I can show you my "no painting required" hex terrain making method.  I take some blank hexes (see the hex making tutorial here) and use a small hole punch to make some "mines" form thin black matt board and glue them down.  Once the glue sets, each hex is covered with a very thin mix of flexible tile grout (earth tone color) which has a little bit of mod podge mixed in maybe a 1/10 ratio) as that extends the working time.  The hexes are set aside to harden - that takes a few hours.

While they set, I mix up my secret formula of dry sanded tile grout with some pigment - this is used to add a much fine texture to the surface.

After the grout sets, place the hex in a tray so it can the texture materials that falls of.  I use 5 different types of texture in making these hexes - mostly different grades of model railroad ballast and talus.

Spread a little undiluted modge podge on the hex

use a plastic spoon to sprinkle a little of the grout mix and then toss on a little of each other type of texture.  Once done use an eye dropper to drip diluted modge podge (1/3 modge podge and 2/3 water) and then set aside to dry.

Once everything setup up its rock solid terrain and there is no need to paint.

For my second Chamber, lets visit the Aquifer.  I present to you a US River Monitor and Patrol Boat from the Vietnam War.  These are 15mm models made by Battlefront which I am painting up for a club project and maybe a upcoming LWTV video.

These were pretty big for 15mm scale models but were a nice little detour.

Plus this is also my first entry in the Naval side challenge.  I doubt it will be my last......

Finally,  my last submission is 5, 15mm Panzer III J's - again part of the Stalingrad project.  These are from a Plastic Soldier Company box set which I, frankly, forgot I had and stumbled across cleaning up for the Challenge in early December.  

No fancy late-war German splinter camo paint jobs for these workhorses - just bog standard German field grey.  Old school, baby.

The details are not as good as other 15mm alternatives but these will do.  Especially since the life expectancy of a tank in urban combat is pretty short.

In terms of total points, I suggest the following

Hall of Traps: Minefields!

Lets go with 10 points of terrain (they do fill most of the six inch scoring cube but the design is really simple) plus 20 bonus points yields a total of 30 points

Aquifer: Vietnam Boats

These models are bigger than most 28mm tanks so let's go with 10 points each rather than the standard 8 for 15mm vehicles.  Thats a total of 40 points including the chamber bonus

Panzer III J's - this one's simple 5 tanks, at 8 points per tank is 40 points

All three sum up to 110 points.

There are a lot more hexes coming your way in the near future....