From MarkO - Send in the Landwehr! (726 points)

Ok, 144 Austrian Napoleonic Landwehr. Two main thoughts sprung to mind while painting these: "Wow these are much easier than painting other Napoleonics" (all the black webbing), and also "Wow Napoleonics are still a pain to paint compared to practically anything else I could have chosen!". But I love them, so... here we are...

I wanted troops that wouldn't look too out of place in later campaigns, hence the grey jackets with coloured facings. The uniform is still rather drab compared to many Napoleonic uniforms though, so here's a nice stirring piece to improve the morale of these militia.

And... forward!

Close ups of one regiment.

From Curt:


Well, this is a points nuke if I ever saw one! Fantastic stuff Mark, I particularly like the battalion with the pink facings, very smart looking. Are these Perry plastics? Also, (and I can't remember if I've asked this already) what rules system are you using for these? I'm really looking forward to when we near the end of the Challenge so we can get some 'work entire' photos of people's work. Your 3-months worth of labour will be very impressive Mark!

From MilesR - More DAK Support Units in 28mm (90 Points)

Some more support units for my 28mm DAK army.  These are all 28mm Perry metal figures.  Outside of a few Opel trucks, which are on back order, this should finish out my DAK force.

First up is a heavy machine gun unit with four figures.  The team isn't fully mounted on a single stand so it can take causalities via figure removal.

Next up six figures from the German command pack - a light machine gunner and ammo carrier, an anti-tank rifleman, NCO and two officers.

The ubiquitous 81mm mortar - just about every army in WW2 used an 81mm mortar, so my DAK would feel left out of the party if they didn't get one too.

A SdKfz 2 Kettenkrad light transport.  The Kettenkrad was originally intended to be used by airborne troops but saw very wide service on all fronts as a light transport.  It was slow for a light vehicle (top speed of 44 km/hour) but could go through just about any terrain.  It had a very interesting steering design.  Initial turns were accomplished with slight turns of the handle bars using the front tire.  When turn past a certain point the track drive train would assist the turn by adjusting the speeds of the tracks.  It very rough terrain the vehicle would be operated with the front tire removed and just rely on the tracks. This was one of the few German vehicles to be switched to non-military use after the war as there was a very successful agricultural version sold after 1945.

This Kettenkrad is an all metal kit from the Perry line and was a lot of fun to build.  I may get a few more.

One thing I will be trying with the mortar unit is using some unit "horde" bases I purchased several years ago.  To be honest I can't remember the original purpose for the bases - I'm sure none of you have similar items in your lead pile...

Bolt Action is meant to be a fast play game and I'd like to see how these trays speed up play and do they do so without a major reduction to the visual appeal of the game.  Of course, I still need to scenic the tray.

I did have some good news that will impact my hobby time - my robotics team won the Delaware State Championship which qualifies them to complete in the East Regional (which is the next step to qualify for World Championship).  It's great news but means the Robotics season is extended as we prepare for the upcoming PA and MD state Championships and the Regionals.  I am multi-dimensional geek!


From Curt:

Great work Miles! I really enjoyed reading your factoids on the Kettenkrad, especially it's unique drive system and post-war agricultural use - very interesting.  

I'm typically not a big fan of individually based multi-figure weapons teams but I do like how you're making use of sabot trays to make them more manageable - never thought of that.  Good one! 

Finally, congratulations on your robotics team's recent victory and best of luck in the upcoming state and regional events!

From Curt - The Limerick Twins - ‘See Ya in the Funny Papers…’ (10 Points)

We played a big game of ‘Strange Aeons’ the other night and I quickly realized that, while I have quite a good collection of nasty beasties, I am woefully short of heroes or, well, at least humans unencumbered by eyestalks, creepy robes and tentacles. True, I have a few figures set aside for my continuing ‘Carro Family’ pulp project, but my collection needs a big injection of two-fisted heroes and savy heroines to do the heavy lifting for the Good Guys in our games. So I put on my winter boots, toque and parka and tromped off to the ‘Lead Shed’ to see what I could excavate as possible candidates. 

As it turns out I have more than a few castings from Copplestone, Pulp Miniatures and Musketeer that fit the bill nicely, and all of them are just crying out to be introduced to a paintbrush. 

As a result, I present to you the first pair of figures of what I hope will be an expanding series of guys and dolls from the interwar period: ‘The Limerick Twins’. 

The Twins are Sean and Sioban Ryan, a pair of talented ‘cleaners’ who have recently emigrated from the Emerald Isle to make their fortune in America. 

The Ryan twins are known (or perhaps notorious) for their preternatural connection with one another and as such are very difficult to surprise, always working in tandem, covering each others' back. We’ll have to see if they have the Luck of the Irish when they make their debut on the tabletop. 

These figures are from Copplestone Casting’s excellent ‘Gangsters’ range. I’ve decided to paint them in an over-saturated, quasi ‘Dick Tracy’ style – something I may try to continue with a few more figures just for the fun of it. 

We’ve been watching the last season of ‘Boardwalk Empire’ and one of lines that has stuck with me was 'Lucky' Luciano saying to Al Capone, ‘See ya in the funny papers.’ So as a tip of the hat to this I thought I’d add a few pages of discarded newsprint at their feel along with some spent .45 shell casings from their Thompsons. 

'Here's looking at you, kid...'