From AlanD - Terrain and a Little Gun (95 points)

First up this week, I finished a support weapon as part of my ongoing 28mm Battle Group Partisan project. The gun is a 75mm mountain gun from Great Escape Games, although I painted it before the challenge. 

I painted up the crew this week as members of the 7th SS Prinz Eugen Mountain Division, attempting the autumn 'oak leaf' camouflage, so 15 points for them please! First time I've attempted this camo, so any feedback is appreciated. The figures are kitbashed from bits of Warlord SS and Perry Afrika Korps.

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to make more terrain this year. I've made a start on some winter terrain for 28mm, to match the WWII Romanians and Soviets I've painted over the past year. My girlfriend calls them 'dolls' houses'.

A couple of houses are Zvezda models, while the rest are 3D prints. I made the thatch from an old towel my daughter ruined while dyeing her hair.

If I tetris all the buildings together they fill a space about 12x18 inches, which I think makes them worth 120 points? If so, with the figures I should be able claim 135 points this week, but I defer to the wisdom of Tamsin!

Well, you got this one in in time, Alan - just as well I was checking. The oak leaf pattern camo looks good, but for the autumn version the smaller dot clusters are orange rather than green, so you've done a decent summer oak leaf camo.

As far as the terrain goes, the points are based on volume, not area, hence the "terrain cube" for scoring rather than "terrain square". It's difficult to tell from the photos, but it looks as though only one of the buildings is about 6" tall, the rest about 4". As there's a lot of dead space in terms of height, I'll assume the average height of the batch is 4". That comes out as 4 terrain cubes, so 80 points.

Tamsin

From AlanD - Parsnips and Partisans (95 points)

First up this week, I've been working on another long-running project, painting figures for Partisan warfare in the Balkans in WWII.  After my last contribution of inter-war armoured cars, this Italian AB41/40 from Blitzkrieg Miniatures looks positively futuristic. Since the model came with two turrets, I cunningly made it with two options.

First, this AB41 is from a German Schutzpolizei unit, with a commander converted from Warlord Games figures. I've seen a photo of one with the Schutzpolizei badge painted on the front, which I've tried to replicate here. Paul O'G has criticised the commander's shortsightedness for the way he's holding the map, but really he is shielding his eyes from the bright Bosnian sunlight.

The Partisans also made use of a number of AB40/41s, which they either captured after the Italian surrender or from the Germans in 1944-5. I gave the second turret a Partisan commander, but also made a Partisan flag from the foil off a wine bottle to drape over the Polizei insignia at the front. It isn't a perfect solution - you can still see the German Balkankreuze - but the idea is this has been so recently captured that they haven't had a change to paint over the German markings yet... 

My second entry for the week is another unit of miserable Fodder for Turnip28, which I now realise I forgot to spray with a bit more filth. Squelchy.

As for points,  that should be 60 for the Parsnip People, 5 for the two commanders, 20 for the armoured car and maybe 10 for the additional turret, if we call it a crew-served weapon? If that sounds right, then 95 points please Tamsin!

I must confess to still being bemused by the appeal to some people of root-vegetable corrupted soldiers for gaming. Still, whatever floats your boat.

As for the turret as a crew-served weapon...oh, go on then!

Tamsin 

From AlanD: More Partisans! (68 points)

A few more Jugoslavian partisans this week...

 I have been enjoying this project a lot. Not only does the subject fascinate me, but I have been enjoying developing some skills in converting figures. The basis for most of this week's group are metal Italian infantry from Perry Miniatures, with different heads, greenstuff caps, and some changes to equipment so that they look a little more motley. There's also a couple of figures from Warlord.

I am particularly pleased with the Partizanke I converted this week, with International Women's Day in mind. The female heads are from Statuesque Miniatures, with greenstuff hair and caps. I also tried to subtly alter the body shape of a couple of figures, building up the chest a little.

This one is a medic.

And here are some forward observers. Or maybe a sniper team?

65 points please. Will I make it to my target of 1500??

Lovely work on these! I'm really enjoying this unique project, and am glad to hear it hasn't become a chore. Motley is the word- and yet they all work together as a group. Have a few bonus points for the conversions, the lovely groundwork, and the map! Onwards to 1500!

Barks

From AlanD: Jugoslavian Partisans (70 points)

My current shiny obsession continues to be WWII Jugoslavian Partisans, so much of this week has been spent converting figures.

Tito's Partisans are very interesting to model, partly because their appearance varied so much. In 1941 the first partisans often wore civilian clothing or ex-Jugoslav Army uniforms, along with whatever they captured from the enemy. After the Italian capitulation in 1943, large quantities of Italian uniforms and equipment fell into partisan hands, and from mid-1944 large quantities of British battledress and equipment was being supplied by the allies. Partisans in Bosnia and Croatia often made use of captured Domobran (Croatian army) uniforms, which were themselves originally old Jugoslav Army uniforms, but increasingly supplied by Germany as the war went on. As the Red Army invaded from the east, Soviet uniforms and equipment were issued to some Partisan brigades. As the war went on, Partisan HQ also attempted to standardise uniform as much as possible, which really meant just trying to introduce uniform cap styles and rank insignia.






By 1945 the Partisans also fielded two tank brigades, the 1st, supplied with M3A3 Stuart tanks and AEC armoured cars by the allies, and the 2nd supplied by the Red Army with T34/85s. They also made use of a wide variety of captured vehicles that originated in France, Italy and Germany.

This week I have painted up a lovely model from Company B of an M3A3 from the 1st Tank Brigade, with converted crew in British battledress from the Warlord games plastic box set.





The infantry this week are from Black Tree Design and Warlord British, German and Russian infantry, chopped about and greenstuffed as appropriate. This little lot should give me 20 points for the tank, 40 for the infantry, and say another 8 for the tank crew?



Lovely stuff, Dux! We're all enjoying this little history lesson- what was your day job again?! I like the crew hanging out of the Stuart, it really helps give a sense of scale. The handpainted markings and floral bases are your signature. I'm glad to award a few bonus points for the conversions and markings.

Barks

From AlanD: Partizanke! (30 points)

This is my shameless bid for Sarah's choice....

The Jugoslavian partisan forces under Tito are important contributors to the history of WWII who don't get the attention they deserve in the West, and are increasingly overlooked in the Balkans thanks to the ethnic politics that have dominated in the region since the 1990s.

In our little hobby world, it is a glaring omission that nobody has made 28mm figures of Jugo partisans. There are French Resistance and Russian partisans, but they are almost always unsuitable to represent Balkan figures. I have approached a couple of manufacturers over the past couple of years to try to interest them in making some figures - offering to do the research and everything - but so far without success. So I have decided to have a stab at making some figures myself, kitbashing available figures until I have a useable force for Bolt Action.

For those interested in women in warfare, Jugoslavia is a powerful case study. Perhaps up to 100,000 women fought under Tito in WWII - up to around 1 in every 7 or so combatants. Of these, perhaps a quarter died. I knew that some of the first figures I would make would be a tribute to some of these women.

I have chosen to depict my partizanke as belonging to a Brigade in the west of Serbia or Bosnia in the Spring of 1945. They are fairly well equipped, with a mixture of captured German weapons and uniforms, those supplied by the British, and a few pieces of Jugoslav army kit. Most of the figures are kitbashed from Warlord plastic figures of Russians, British and Germans, with heads from Statuesque Miniatures and lots of Greenstuff. The Partizanka with the grey skirt is a metal figure, I think from Black Tree Design, with a Greenstuff Titovka (cap) and uniform collars.

I learned a fair bit about working with Greenstuff from this attempt, and the next figures will have better caps in particular, but I am pretty pleased with them. Only another hundred or so to go.

And figure manufacturers who would like to be ranted at about why this is a range of figures you need to make - I'd love to hear from you!

A blatant tilt at Sarah's Choice, surely the Lady will see this cynical entry for what it is?!

Very nice conversions! I particularly like the long skirt, it seems impractical. I like the different shades of green/ grey/ khaki you've used. We look forwards to being further educated!

Barks

From AlanD: More Fall of the Reich and a New Project (88 points)

This week I had the pleasure of painting a box of 8-rad German armoured cars from Battlefront. This is a terrific box set, enabling you to build 6 vehicles of the Sdkfz 234 series. I painted up 2 as Sdkfz 234/1s, a brace of Pumas and one each of the Pakwagen and Stummel.

All but one of the Pumas are painted as belonging to SS units, and are destined for games of Battlegroup Spring Awakening or Fall of the Reich. I even had a go at painting some bits of uniform in a very stylised SS pea-dot camouflage, which is sheer folly in 15mm!







Continuing on my terrain project, I also painted up a bombed-out factory to add to my urban layout.

I also started a new project this week. I have been wanting to make a Jugoslavian partisan force in 28mm for some time, mainly for the challenge of converting the figures. Nobody makes a suitable range of Jugo partisan figures, as their appearance differed markedly from the French Resistance or Soviet partisans that comprise most of what is available in 28mm. Consequently, after a lot of research, I've started trying to make my own. The first figure is a proof of concept test, being an easy kitbash from Warlord bits. There will be more.





So for points this week, I make it:

6 x 15mm vehicles = 48
6 x 15mm figures = 12
2 x 15mm half figures = 2
1 x terrain of 34x15cm = 20?
1 x 28mm infantry = 5

Adding up to 87 points, I believe. And now to bed!

A new project! Very interesting to watch this evolve. Was this inspired by your recent trip to Serbia? What makes a Jugoslavian partisan recognisable?

I've always liked the 8-rads, and I'll give a bonus point for the pea-dot camo. That's a WW2 German-appropriate 88 points.

Barks