KenR: 1/700 Z22 Anton Schmitt German Destroyer (40 points)

Second entry of the week and I've managed to keep up with my planned ship a week. This time its Destroyer number 8 of 10 for the Germans at Narvik

The ship is a 1/700 scale model from Trumpeter, I'm very impressed with these kits which are full of detail without being ridiculously difficult to put together. After the excitement of the red Turrets last week, I've turned down the heat with a plain light grey ship with aerial recognition flags front and rear, maybe next week I'll have some coloured Turrets 😉

The model represents Z22 Anton Schmitt which was a Type 1936 Destroyer named after a German Sailor who was the last man on the last gun operating on the German Light Cruiser Frauenlob at the battle of Jutland, he went down with the ship. She was sunk in the initial British attack on Narvik whilst still in port. 50 crew were lost, the remaining men joined the ad hoc German Naval Infantry units in the land campaign.

So that's another 40 points towards my total, to keep me on course towards my 1500 points total for the Challenge. At the moment I've got the next German Destroyer being built and some Spanish Italian Wars Cavalry hopefully ready for next week. Until then here is a group shot of the ships to date.

TeemuL: Big ships, what's there not to like? Excellent quality once a again and I like your athmospheric photos, too. 40 points to your tally and expecting two posts next week. :)

From PeteB: Stronghold Terrain - Richard - 28 mm (5 points)

I wanted to finish more figures this week but I could only manage to finish this lovely figure from Stronghold Terrain that I bought on the last CRISIS. People who know me and my avatar will understand why I had to paint this figure. 

I hope you like him and thanks for watching.

Points: 1 x 28 mm Foot Figure = 5 Points

TeemuL: Lovely mini, great pose and colours. Very neat and excellent base. But I think you tease us a bit, at least those of us who don't know you. So what's the story behind your avatar and you? 5 points for you anyway.

From DaveD: Panzer in the mist and various non scoring stuff (10 points)

I have continued the work on the winter table this week completing a lot of the terrain work. I have started on some of the troops and have finished a first Panther for my Panzer Lehr units . 

All new terrain in the pictures too. 

Think this was a Plastic Soldier one - but it’s been in the stash for while so maybe not

It’s a basic Dunkelgelb paint job with light camo and then “whitewash” coat applied using a white enamel paint - nice bit of old school .

Other things that have been made this week are :-

20 feet of winter hedges 

12 feet of winter solid fences.

A frozen pond

Icy patches 

A cushions worth of mist - bet you are glad you don’t need to score that .🤣🤣.

Maybe I should have put some lights in this claimed a Will O The Wisp !

20 feet of hedges - gone in a jiffy - need more sometime .

12 feet of fences all used - will be adding another 12 of wire fences

Frozen pond 

Icy patches scatter - made using an empty heated laminate pouch with some homemade tufts .

The table is currently starting to fill my permanent 8x4 , though it will need to go to 12x6 in due course 

It’s  getting there .

The terrain work that is left :-

Wire fences to make up 

Stream 

Building baseboards and gardens 

Find the box of base deciduous tree armatures and do some of them .

I think I am finally starting to come through the latter stages of The lurgy at least now so it’s getting easier to hold a brush without all the cough and splutter going on .

Score - 1 x 15mm vehicle - 8 pts .

Something with less white next week I think .

TeemuL: Another excellent project to follow, Dave! Winter wars seem to ge a strong focus point this year in the Challenge. The Panther looks nice, fits very well your wintery board. So good, that I'll grant you 2 bonus points, just to give some credit for your work this week. I just wish there would be that much snow here in Finland, too...

From MartinC: Many Tiny Things [Limbo] (405points)

I've had a productive week. Weather freezing over here in Blighty, our infrastructure can only cope with light drizzle and 10 - 20 degrees C. It was not that. There was a lot of football on the TV, FA Cup 3rd round - look it up if you don't know what that means, but basically it is the entire English mentality of underdogs throwing themselves at the elite and losing 99% of the time. But we think built an empire on that 1%, we didn't but it'sthe national psyche. Enough rambling.

I've been painting 10mm this week, mainly for the Barbarossa campaign

Couple of Russian limbers, ok they are British zulu war ones but who really cares, and a couple of Gaz jeeps. I added Russian drivers for all 4. 

Next up the rest of the armoured recon battalion and the missing 75mm guns. I love the dinky motorcycle combinations.

Rest of the German vehicles, mainly infantry transport with some tanks, I need an extra tank.

Love how these have come out.

This is all the Germans so far. Still need to complete the engineer battalion and an artillery regiment. But its 5 battalions, which is a big Rapid Fire battle, and only 25% of the total units.

Whilst searching though the lead pile I found the following, my Limbo entry. I have this grand plan for a solo imagination campaign based on the American war of Independence, but set at the end of the 7YW in the baltic states. I have all the forces now,  Prussians,  Austrians, American (Prussian settlers), woodland Indians (Latvians and Lithuanians) and Jacobite Scots (Estonians). 

Indian canoes, terrain is very woody and wet

Civilians

These will be mobile objective markers with the potential to turn into militia.

Scores on the doors

10mm vehicles 46 inc motorbike combinations and canoes = 276

10mm artillery 4 = 12 (not included the crew, if should be included then 24)

10mm foot 85 = 85

Limbo = 20

So either 393 or 405

TeemuL: Productive week, indeed! Regarding the scoring, a gun is just a gun, so all the crew are extra points, so 405 for this happy lot. Quite a big lot of Germans, but still more coming. I see that imagination campaigns are coming from left and right, your take on it sounds quite refreshing and interesting, too. I hope to see more of that in the future!

From PaulSS: The next draft of Prussians (110points)

 

Following on from last weeks post, more troops have rolled off the Prussian production line. 

This weeks it's two units each of cavalry and infantry plus four artillery caissons. All the figures are from the Baccus 6mm range while the bases are from Warbases.

The first unit is a unit of reservists in their plain old grey uniforms, these can really represent any of the grey clad reserve battalions. 

The second unit of the week is a battalion of regulars with red facings, again these can represent many of the units in the army.

Both the flags are from the Baccus range, but they shed ink rather easily so I've taken to touching them up with a paint marker, they are still not that great.

Now for some fancy-pants Uhlans representing an actual unit, the 2nd Uhlans that were part of II Corps reserve brigade.

The next cavalry unit is also a named unit, of Westphalian Landwehr.

An attempt was made using the paint markers to add a cross to each pennant but they are just too small, so a dot had to suffice.

Finally a quartet of artillery caissons.

These are an important part of the General d'Armee II rules, four would be a very expensive painting effort in 28mm, but at 6mm it's easy to crank them out and get them on the table.

This weekend the collection so far of Prussians; 20 infantry battalions, eight cavalry, four batteries and all the ancillaries will be taking part in our biggest 6mm General d'Armee II game so far. 

96 infantry, 48 mounted, 12 horses and four vehicles should add another 110pts to my tally.

Back to the Prussian production line, I need more Generals and Aide de Camp painted for Saturdays game!

TeemuL: There are many pros on 6mm, such like the price and space and ability to play really big games (even though I know some maniacs play really big games with 28mm), but then the size limits the details in pennants for example. The units of this entry do look impressive together, even more impressive when combined with past and future units, I'm sure. Well done, very neat brushwork and the basing fits your mat.

From RayR: Retreat from Moscow - North Star, 24th Legere (35 points)

Surprise Surprise! Here's more figures for my and Lee's  Retreat from Moscow project. 

These poor chilly souls are painted up to represent a detachment of the French 24th Legere, who fought in Ney's Third Army, 10th Division (Ledru), in Gengoult's Brigade. But in all honesty they could be from any French light infantry unit.

In Sharpe Practice, skirmish units are usually in 6 man units. The figures are from the great range of figures made by North Star for the Muskets & Tomahawks ruleset, which I bought as a set. I've included a commander, once again from North Star's range.

I hope more figures will be added to this great looking range........not that I actually need anymore figures???

But who am I kidding!

Once again I've included their very own base, which I painted up before the Challenge, when we found out no terrain items were allowed this time round.

I'm hoping to add another post later today, if I can get the figures finished?????

Onto the points, nice and easy...

7 figures at 5pts each = 35 pts

TeemuL: I have said this before, but I believe this is a fine example of this Challenge, you and Lee working together for a common target side by side. I'm sure the Challenge itself is a great source of inspiration, but your side duel lifts it to the next level. Talk about the positive peer pressure!

I like these models, too, I have bought something from this range in the past and have been happy. Your brushwork and frosty finish does them justice. Let's see if you finish a second post.

From KenR: 28mm Napoleonic French Artillery (120 points)

I've got three Project trains running side by side this year and it's Napoleonics time again, I'm alternating French / Prussian etc so here are the next reinforcements for my French Plancenoit build.

This represents a Battery of 3 x 6pdr guns plus a Howitzer which was attached to the Young Guard Brigade I am building. It consists of 16 figures with 4 to a gun on a 60 x 90 base. I was keen to keep base frontages consistent throughout this project and depth was just what looked right.

The figures are from Elite Miniatures and are sold as a Battery in one pack. For those who follow Yarkshire Gamer you will know that this has been a bit of a nostalgia dive for me, I painted a load of these for the Wargames Holiday Centre back in the day and after 25 plus years without doing any it was like putting on an old pair of slippers. I love em.

Points wise, 16 x 28mm figs at 5pts each make 80, plus 4 Artillery pieces at 10 each give me a grand total of 120 points.

These are getting posted on Saturday for the next Thursday so I would expect at least another ship before then. I'm working on some Spanish Heavy Cavalry for the Italian Wars at present whilst the next Napoleonics will be Prussian Landwehr.

TeemuL: I like your big ships, but I like these 28mm minis even more. Strong colours and neat finish is a strong combination. I also pay attention to your bases, it seems that is somekind of idea how the ground actually looks like and not just gluing random tufts here and there (and mostly trying to hide something...). Good job, and we will meet again today!

Third Thursday Things of Interest

Topic of today is quite an important thing, the Independece of Finland.

After the Finnish War 1808-09 (part of the Napoleonic wars) Grand Duchy of Finland was an autonomous part of Russia. Finns were not entirely happy with their situation and there were ideas of independence every now and then. The culmination was the World War 1 and Russian Revolution, which after several twists and turns lead to the declaration of independence on 6th of December 1917. First countries to recognize the independece were Russian Soviet Federation (led by Vladimir Lenin), France, Sweden and German Empire Janury 4th 1918. German Empire was involved in the independence process, mainly opposing Russia.

As I wrote, there were no war for independence, but it was a long process and political parties were not in consensus how to proceed. The nation was divided in two parties, especially after the independence usually called Whites and Reds. Whites were the official representativies of Finland, usually richer, upper class and more or less supported by Germans, while the Reds were the common folk, poorer, lower class and supported by Soviet Russia. Shortly after the declaration the government was not strong enough and a civil war was started, brother fighting brother. The war has many names, Red Rebellion, Civil War, Freedom War, Events of 1918 and so on, depending how objective or subjective you are/were and on which side you were.

The sides were quite equal, 80 000 to 90 000 on each side, but German support was stronger than Russian and after four bloody months the Whites won. Roughly 36 000 died or went missing in total, over 13 000 died on prison camps and almost 10 000 were executed. Both sides were quilty on many crimes and the nation was strongly divided for a long time, several decades in fact. Only recently (100 years later) there has been more open and objective discussion and research on this very sensitive subject. Future president C.G.E. Mannerheim was the commander of White army, having gained experience in Imperial Russian Army in Russo-Japanese War and on Eastern Front of WW1.

How all this affected World War 2 and Winter War, please return next week!

The Maiden of Finland and the blue and white flag (1906)

--- In Other News ---

Again there are some posts from terrific Thursday group and again most of the snow has melted. And my nine year old son made a monthly visit to the local library yesterday and got himself of children's storybook (perfectly suitable for his age) and a book titled "World War I" (I translated the title for you). I hope I have some meaningful discussions in the near future... :)