From StuartL - Estonian Legion - History & Sarah's Library Cart - 161 Points

Hello all,

One of the fun things about the challenge is that is encourages you to learn more about the subjects you are painting, and to actively go out and find new things. As my case in point for today, I have ended up researching an area of WW2 that I previously didn't know much about. 

In August 1942, the Wehrmacht created the Estonian Legion, a combat support formation of the Waffen-SS. It was originally formed of volunteers, and later augmented with some 700 men from the police forces. During this period, it was an active participant in many of the Nazi regimes crimes against humanity, particularly in the occupied areas of Belarus and Poland. 

    

As the military situation worsened in the East in 1943, the Germans began to conscript Estonian men into the legion and its numbers swelled up to about 6000. The Legion was moved away from police duties and started to see combat against Soviet forces. As things got even worse, the Germans organized a second round of drafts in '44. This time, the Prime Minister of Estonia, Juri Uluots endorsed the conscription. Seeing the possibility of a German defeat in the near future, Uluots thought that it would be a good idea to get as many guns into the hands of Estonian patriots as possible to help secure their independence once the Nazis were beaten. As a result 38,000 Estonians signed up. 

These minis are all from Warlord Games' old range of metal Waffen-SS figures. The detail on some of them isn't as crisp as it could be, but they're not too bad. The separate heads allow for some different poses and customization.

I bought a bunch of these figures years ago when Bolt Action first came out and still have a load more in my to-do pile. They are equipped with all sorts of gear, from SMG's to Assault Rifles to Panzerfausts. 

In total there are 21 models, but two of them are lying prone, so will only score 2.5 points each.

   

The late war German supply chain was a mess, so I have painted these guys up in a variety of camo patterns. Plane Tree, Oak Leaf and Pea Dot are the names of the patterns I was using. Some of the minis have a mix of patterns on them, which made the process way longer than it could have been. Still, they give a good impression of an army logistics department that is getting by by the skin of its teeth.

So, with the history section finished it is time to move on to Overdue and Returns. Sadly, these models are still Overdue and won't be putting in an appearance until 2024 I think. Still, I can hop onto Sarah's Library Cart and get over to the correct section. 

As is standard, I have a female mini to pay for the trip, a Minotauress, (Minotaurina? Lady Minotaur?). As I was already painting up one model, I grabbed a couple of companion figures for her from my collection and here we have the results. 

As with nearly all of my fantasy submissions, these are Reaper Bones minis. The two male Minotaurs are the older type with softer details, whereas the Minotauress in the centre is the newer type and is a lot higher quality. These models will find a home in the skirmish game I am working on.

The models were all started from a brown undercoat, with the various colours selectively brushed over the top followed by a sepia wash. A final highlight of the skin and cloth finished them off pretty quickly.

The models look quite slender, but they are actually quite large, as you can see from this comparison with the rather scared looking SS Grenadier.

So, the scores should be:

21x 28mm minis (2 prone) = 100 points

3x 40mm minis = 21 points

History Section = 20 points

Sarah's Library Cart = 20 points

TOTAL = 161 Points

For my duels:

Skulls +0 = 32 Skulls

Legions +100 = 140 Points

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Great work on these Estonians, Stuart. They provide an interesting, albeit grim, slice of their national history and an creative take on the 'legion' challenge. I like how you deftly created the mottled sense of their uniforms and kit that would be apparent during the unravelling, late-war period. The Minotaurs are very impressive and I like that Reaper provided a female version as well - not something you often see! Well done!

- Curt

From MartinN: Benito's Brook - Hans! Hände hoch! (60 ponts)

A last stand you say? Well, if there’s been one iconic last stand in WW2 than it must clearly have been the Battle for Arnhem during Operations Market and Garden. Of course there were others too but this one instantly sprang to mind and coincidentally I'm slowly collecting a force of Paratroopers for it.

Paras on their way to the bridge

It took me a while to finally finish the figures for this location as (rather unusually for me) I simply couldn’t stay focused. I'm used to jump between projects but it's usually only when I've finished a unit that I start on something different. At the moment however I'm pretty much focused on WW2 (as always) but can't, for the life of me, seem to finish a whole unit. So instead of waiting I decided these 5 figures should suffice.

The three British Airborne are Warlord Games Metals while the two SS actually are DAK casualties by Artizan Designs. Given a period appropriate Erbsentarn camouflage they fit perfectly for Arnhem in late '44. At the moment I'm not yet decided if I stick with Artizan DAK for the SS or if I'll use some other manufacturer.

Speaking of the Waffen-SS, it has caused me some headaches but I've finally decided to not use regular Heer as stand ins but collect a dedicated force exclusively for Market Garden. My personal misgivings about the SS aside it somehow didn’t feel right to 'change' history just because I'm not comfortable with one of the forces involved.
Either do it proper or don't do it at all! But one thing is certain, these will be no StG'44 toting Uber-Soldiers.

The prone casualty figure instantly reminded me of the picture below and originally this was the scene I wanted to recreate. Needless to say I didn’t pull it through as the whole bridge and stuff seemed a little too intimidating even if compressed a little.

Haven’t quite finished the basing yet, but for the moment it should do. Need to order me some new tufts first.

4 full and a prone figure should give me 22.5 points plus 30 points for Benito's Brook, so 52.5 points in total.

By Paul

That is amazing brushwork Martin - just stunning. Its going to be quite the show watching you put together a dedicated SS force for Arnhem.

For the amazing camo schemes and detail on these (love the red and white polka dot neckerchief) I'm awarding bonus points to bring this submission up to 60 points 

From TamsinP: 28mm Waffen SS (50 points)

My second submission this week is intended for a certain Strontium Dog storyline, "The Schicklgruber Grab", but could be used for historical games as well. As Johnny's target would be guarded by Waffen SS troops, I clearly needed a few of those so I bought a section pack from Warlord Games.

These were also zenithal primed and painted with fairly thin paints, with just the NMM metals being highlighted. Again a thinned dark tone wash was used to black-line the figures. I painted the bases in a more urban ruin colour scheme, appropriate to the story's setting.

Painting the '44 pattern Sumpfmuster camo wasn't as difficult as I'd anticipated, although I did leave out the rain-streak element of the pattern.

Overall, I don't think they came out too bad.

For scoring:

10 x 28mm foot @ 5 = 50 points.

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Another great submission, and not a 15mm figure in sight! I  love the camouflage helmets and pea dot smocks. Excellent work as always Tamsin and another 50 points to add to the pile. 

Lee