Thursday 8 January 2015

From MilesR - DAK Support and... (139 Points)

 Some mobile artillery support for my growing DAK army in 28mm - a SIG 33 Self-Propelled Gun.  The vehicle model is resin and is produced by Blitzkrieg Miniatures and the two crewman are Perry metals.  The full name for the vehicle is a 15cm sIG 33 auf Fahrgestell Panzerkampwagen II (Sf) - kind of just rolls of the tongue doesn't it?

 The SIG 33 II, was the second version of the Bison and carried a 150mm gun on a Panzer II chassis.  Well it's really a "stretch" Pamzer II as the chassis had to be lengthened 60cm and a sixth road wheel added to allow the crew to service the gun.

Only 12 were built in 1941 and all were sent to North Africa where they served throughout the campaign until lost in Tunisia.
 Like all Blitzkrieg models, the resin casting is superb and assembly consisted simply of glueing the gun in place.  The only trouble I had with the model (and this is a new issue for me with Blitzkrieg is that the mold release agent was extremely difficult to get off the model - I was it at least four times before I could get a primer coating to stick with out beading up - very strange.

 This big gun should net me 20 points - 15 for the vehicle and 5 for the two half crewman.




 Next up is some more traditional artillery support in the form of a captured Soviet M1938 122mm Howitzer.  The model is a 3D print from Trenchworx and is superb - my meager painting skills do not do it justice.  3D prints are fantastic for hard to get items and I recommend the team at Trenchworx.
 I suspect many of you are blurting out what the heck is a Soviet gun doing in a DAK army.  Well my logic is a bit on the hazy side but here goes.  During the opening months of the Russian campaign the Germans captured massive numbers of Soviet guns - so many that they reconfigured several munitions plants to manufacture ammunition to match the Soviet calibers.  The captured guns saw service on just about every front and a few may have made it to Africa - and maybe is close enough for me.
 Game-wise, the 122mm sits in between Bolt Action's medium howitzer (105mm) and heavy of (150mm) which allows me to proxy either without too much trouble - two guns for the price of one.
 It's a fairly simple paint job but looks good.  The kit comes in 8 parts which are printed in a semi transparent material (not sure what it is).  The un assembled kit can be seen in the second-to-last picture of this post - next to the upper left corner of my cutting mat.
 Next up is an 18mm scale US Monitor tank from All Quiet on the Martian Front.  While not as imposing as the Land Ironclad, it's still a big beast (it's 5 inches long) - think of her as the steam tank equivalent of a Tiger as the model is the same size as a 28mm Tiger tank.

 I helped play test the rules and this was my favorite US unit.  In the dozen or so play test games I participated in as a US player, the Monitor tank wreaked havoc on the Martian foes but never once survived the game - maybe you can love something too much?
 The body and turret are resin casts and the guns,  locomotive arms and commanders hatch are metal.

It's a fun kit to paint up.














 Last night I was able to finish up a few more submissions - all 18mm mini's from All Quiet on the Martian Front.  My lead pile increased materially with the arrival of Waves I and II from the kickstarter.

 A unit of US Heavy Infantry.  These guys where asbestos lined armored suits and are armed with elephant guns.  They're slow but damn hard to dig out of a defensive position.

 The Elephant gun doesn't pose a huge threat to a Tripod but it's more than enough to take down some of the lighter Martian stuff - such as Drones.


 A unit of 3 Martian Drones and some fleeing  civilians which are referred to in the game as "Human Prey".
 The Drones are good scouts and can scramble over rough terrain.  The mount a small heat ray and a light reaper arm for close combat.
 The "Human Prey" are used as objective markers for some scenarios - the Human player needs to cover their escape off the board while the Martian player is, umm, looking to use them as part of their organic farming program.....
 Lastly, a Slaver Tripod.  While smaller than the normal tripod (4 vs 5.5 inches) it's a very important unit as it allows the Martian player to deploy drones and human zombie troops.
 During games the Human side will try to take this unit out as fast as possible because if the Slaver goes down all of the drones and zombies go down also.






 I spent most of last Saturday cleaning up my hobby workshop and storage closet.  I'm a little chagrinned about how much stuff I forgotten I had and how much crap the gaming hobby accumulates.  One of my great fears is the realization that it is only a very fine line that separates a gamer from a hoarder.  All of us run the risk of showing up on one of those horrible TV reality shows about hoarders - beware, you've been warned.

The first picture shows my work space.  On the lower left are a stack of storage trays that have primed miniatures and scratch building supplies. I keep all my basing materials under the workbench and larger scenery items in the plastic tub in the lower right.  You can see my trusty apron draped across my chair.  That's right, I wear an apron and it's saved many a shirt from painting mishaps.

A close up of the bench top.  I tend to keep paints that are in use for a project to the left and all my tools to right (I'm right handed).

Lastly, I had some visitors outside my office while writing up this post.  You can see four of the deer in the picture but there where another 5 of 6 out of the shot.  During the winter they come out of the woods to forage and our shrubbery appears to be the salad bar of choice these days.

My painting production will be somewhat limited over the next two weeks as I'll be in the UK next week and my robotics team has a couple of competitions over the new few weekends.

I hope everyone is off to a happy and productive New Year.







From Curt:
What a wonderful post Miles. There's something for everyone, historical, sci-fi, hobby-desk porn and even the local animatronic wildlife! 

That sIG 33 is a very cool looking vehicle and I like the esoteric addition of a Soviet artillery piece to a Deutsche Afrika Korps force - an interesting bit of history that.

I'm really trying to ignore this 'All's Quiet on the Martian Front' stuff but I'm becoming slowly worn down by seeing all of these cool figures and vehicles. Any game that has a 'human prey' troop classification has my vote. I'm not sure I can hold out for the next two months...

An apron? An APRON!? What a brilliant idea! I can't tell you how many shirts and trousers I've ruined while working at the hobby desk. I do have some grubby jeans and shirts that I often change into but an apron would be so much better AND I would look like a mad scientist when emerging from the confines of the 'nerd centre'! SOLD!

Good one Miles and you even seize first place in the points standings, if only for a few hours...

Bon voyage!

16 comments:

  1. What a great mix of lovely minis Miles :)

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  2. oooohh more wonderful All Quiet temptations. I managed to talk myself out of starting last time you posted and now I have to struggle with it all over again :p

    The DAK entries look great too

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  3. Great entry. There is something so special about walking armour. The DAK are great but the scale always seems a little large for desert warfare to me. I'd need to move house, maybe to one with deer in the garden. Congrats on storming into the lead.

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  4. Another wonderful submission Miles. You're really pushing me along with these big posts and at the same time your quality never drops off! I think the AQMF tank is my favourite of this lot but it was a hard choice...

    That photo out your window highlights how far apart we are. Outside taking photos this morning my clothes were sticking too me it's so hot and humid. In the background there were several different kinds of parrots plus the kookas kicking up an almighty ruckus.. :-)

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  5. Great work! I especially like that Monitor tank. What green did you use for it?

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  6. Thanks for the comments

    Millsy - it's 9 degrees F here - I'm very jealous! The Bay I'm on is frozen solid!

    For the Monitor tank I used Vallejo US Olive Drab Primer (73.608) - it's a great product.



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  7. Wow, so much work and all beautiful.

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  8. as always, great job. liked the civil and deer outside the window

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  9. How eclectic. Something for everyone. I am particularly fond of that Sig but I must not change scales yet again. Excellent work on all of them. All quiet on the martian front is not for me but the land-dreadnought is! (Strangely)

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  10. Fantastic painting on those vehicles; they are really fine!

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  11. Excellent post - as Curt said, a very eclectic mix and something for everyone. I like the Soviet gun and explanation - but then I'm a converter at heart so it's the things that stand out as unusual that I like.

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  12. A SIG!...Damn, my SIG doesn't have treads, and it would be awkward and very uncomfortable to drive! ;) Seriously though, those are some excellent armor. From the fleeing CoBs to the russian- er, Soviet- cannon, to the historical and fictional armor ...great stuff all!
    I'm only mildly jealous of your office view. It is -19 here in my corner of Michigan. I get to spend the weekend doing LandNav, ruck-style, and sleeping in a cozy tent. The best part, I'm paid to go inta da woods! ;)

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  13. The "Human Prey" put a big stupid grin on my face. I'm with Curt--these posts are not helping my resolve...

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  14. That SiG has to be one of the most overloaded vehicles ever to see combat - great work on that and all the Martian Front models as well!

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  15. Nice work. You've certainly been putting in the hours in this Challenge.

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  16. Incredible submission. That's hours of work I bet. How very cool to get four legged visitors like that. It's a long way from summer here in tropical Darwin. Cheers

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