From HerrRobert: Brothers in Arms - Road to Hill 30 (35 points)

For my next entry, I present some additions to my Bolt Action/Chain of Command US Parachute Infantry Platoon.

My platoon began by picking up a box of paratroopers that were on sale at my LGS back last challenge. As I have discovered, the contents of the box is somewhat random, and so you don't always get the 10 guys pictured. Which is fine, actually, since it means they all won't look the same.

 

I've based my platoon on that from the game series Brothers in Arms, mostly Road to Hill 30 and Earned in Blood. Both are excellent WWII first player shooters, which place you in the position of the squad leader. Unlike a lot of other FPS, however, this one puts as much importance on your ability to handle the fire and maneuver elements of your squad as just charge in and shoot.

The uniforms are also very close to the Warlord US Paratrooper models I had:

So it seemed a good fit. They're deceptively complex to paint, with all the gear, shading and the like. However, these guys ate up the end of my Challenge last year, and so March 20 hit with them only partly finished. Naturally, one understrength squad won't cut it, so I had to expand. While I was hoping to get them out for my LGS' Normandy game, they ended up sitting around mostly unfinished until December (shame, shame, shame) when I needed them for a Foy game. So 1st Squad, the mortar squad, and the bazooka team took the field. The rest were primed. The painting bug hit me before the challenge started, so I finished the M1919A4 for 2nd Squad before Dec 20.

Having played a few pickup games with loaner units, I discovered I very much do not like running big squads. Not only does it penalize you in order dice, but it also makes fire and movement harder. Big squads are also a lot harder to hide in cover. So my intended order of battle is to split squads into the "fire" and "assault" elements. Fortunately, Bolt Action allows up to 6 parachute infantry squads in a platoon OB, so I can easily split my three squads.

This entry fleshes out the "Assault team" for 2nd Squad, along with some odds and sods. You can see two guys throwing grenades, two running with Garand rifles, one with a M1 carbine, and one with a Thompson. You can also see an element of Platoon HQ in the back.

This group shot gives you some idea of the detail on the figures. They've got helmets with webbing and camoflage strips, web gear, gloves or hands, pockets, patches, boots and knives. The M1942 uniform was deceptively fragile, and often wore out at the elbow, knee and pockets. So all of those were field reinforced using olive drab fabric.

For the bulk of the uniform, I used Vallejo Khaki highlighted with Middlestone. Patches and Pockets were Dark American Green, highlighted with Reflective Green. Helmets and entrenching tools were painted Brown Violet, then highlighted Russian Uniform. Webbing was painted Green Gray. Gloves were Yellow Ochre. Everything then got a wash of Army Painter Strong Tone to dirty it up.

Faces took a bit more work. The Warlord figures have wonderfully expressive faces, and allow you to paint some incredible facial expressions on them. I started using a mystery Reaper fleshtone (it's an unlabeled sample), then hit it with Game Color Flesh Wash. Eyes were white and black. I then touched it up with the Reaper fleshtone, which makes the white dots of the eyes into more natural ovals, and highlighted with Vallejo Flat Flesh. Lips were done with JoAnn Craft Essentials Bright Magenta, which is actually not that bright, but also avoids them looking like they're wearing lipstick.

The guy with the carbine will help flesh out the assault team for 1st Squad, since Warlord gave me primarily shooting poses in the first squad pack. 

This is the only Thompson figure in the bunch. A squad had roughly 2 Thompsons available, not counting those used by NCOs. I suppose, being picky, I should have based the Thompson figures on something other than circles, so that players know they're "special" figures. I did that with my BARs (from Artisan, which do not match well with these), and I may do that going forward. I have with my NCOs, using octagons. Shamelessly stolen from the Snowlord, of course.

This is the only good photo of the NCO. Warlord doesn't make a lot of NCO figures, so you end up having to adapt the ones you get. That's not much of a problem if you're not modeling the assistant squad leaders, but it is if you are (as I intend to do). I may end up having to use figures that look NCOish, and put them on different bases. He came in the Command pack, and I was torn between using him for a squad NCO, or a platoon sergeant. However, seeing as he's close to the platoon sergeant pictured in Brothers in Arms, I'm going to go with that.

So that's 7 paratroopers in 28mm, for 35 points and a notch in the Squirrel! duel.

Hope to have more to come!

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Hey cool, I loved 'Brothers in Arms'! As you say it's a great game which was less of a twitch-fest as compared to the usual FPS fare we see today. 

These paratroopers look brilliant Rob. The uniforms really pop and the basework is excellent as well. How many more are you planning for this force, five more of these smaller squads? I look forward to seeing your progress.

Another 35 points to add to your tally. Well done Rob!

Curt