From MartinN: Fallschirmjäger Support & Volksgrenadier with ride (15 points)

Just a token submission today as life has once again got rather busy around here. I won't bore you with the details as I know you all will be familiar with such moments in your hobby lives.

After having just recently made the switch from Bolt Action to Chain of Command -and not having regretted it for a second - I felt the need for adding a few items to my Fallschirmjäger force.

Thus I got me a pack of support weapons, namely a Panzerbüchse AT-rifle and more importantly a 5cm light mortar from Crusader Miniatures. I figured these would go quite well with my Paul Hicks Fallschirmjäger and indeed they do. Unfortunately though they're a little underwhelming in regards to their sculpting. The moulds seem to be quite worn as well making me hesitate to get more of these.

Development of the 5cm leichter Granatwerfer 36 as this light mortar was called officially, begun in 1934. It was introduced into the Wehrmacht in 1936. In 1941 its range and fire power was deemed no longer adequate and by 1942 it was officially withdrawn from frontline service. Nonetheless it remained in service until the end of the war as it was quite popular with the common foot sloggers.

Especially rear echelon units as well as the elite Fallschirmjäger formations - being naturally light on heavier support weapons - still relied heavily on this light mortar for close support.

The Panzerbüchse 38 was a manually loaded, single-shot weapon with a recoiling barrel. It was rather complicated to produce and proofed obsolete as early as 1940 already. It later got some minor improvements and was re-designated Panzerbüchse 39. Starting in 1942 the remaining PzB 38/39 were rebuilt by shortening the barrel and adding the so called Schiessbecher - literally firing cup - which was also used with the Kar98 to shoot rifle grenades.

Additionally a Sdkfz 251/9 from Warlord Games and a Volksgrenadier from Empress Miniatures were finished finally. I can't claim any points for the Halftrack though as it was already started during the last challenge. But still I'm rather proud to have it finished finally. Now I only need to get me some suitable crew to man this little cutie.

For the Volksgrenadier I wanted to try my hand on some SS plane-tree camouflage. I can't really bring myself to play SS but quite like their camouflage uniforms. Thus this Volksgrenadier whom I imagine to be a seasoned veteran of the eastern front, gave me the perfect excuse. He might have traded or 'borrowed' it at some point I imagine. Still I'm not a 100% satisfied as I still think the camo needs a few more dark and orange-ish splodges.

So that's it for today. A 'meagre' 15 points (10 for the four prone Fallschirmjäger and 5 for the Grenadier) but it's the small steps that make a journey, eh?

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These are wonderful, Nick - really lovely.  And don't worry at all about the smaller submissions - part of the real joy of Challenge VII has been both the larger submissions and the smaller ones, so no need to apologize for this submission....

....not least becuase, it's a terrific submission in every way.  Loveingly painted fogures and a fine vehicle, excellent basing, some well-researched history, and good photography.  What's not to love?

I particularly like the Fallschirmjäger blau, popping out of the prone figures' uniforms, and the camouflage patterns on the Volksgrenadier and the Sdkfz 251/9.  You painting is great, and there's always more details to find, Nick, once we start looking.

So, a well deserved 15 points, Nick - and getting very near your target now!  And yes, the small steps make the journey - and even the smallest step can be wonderful !