Olive & Drab ~ U.S. Infantry Re-basing

The latest of my re-basing projects is finished. This time it's United States Infantry. These took me quite a while because I didn't really have many of them painted up for Chain of Command, so I needed to do a fair bit of painting to get them up to speed for O Group. The painted figures I had on hand amounted to a platoon with a section of assault pioneer/engineer, as well as heavy weapons. For some reason I had plenty of heavy weapons. 

Most of these miniatures are AB Figures with a few Simon's Soldiers in the mix. I also had a couple of sections of plastic Italeri/Esci that I started off with several years ago. I wasn't going to use these for the platoons but not because they're plastic (they are pretty nice figures) but because I didn't quite get the colour of their jacket right. When I did the metal figures I used a better colour (it's Vallejo but I don't know what it's called - I wrote "US Jacket" on the bottle so I wouldn't forget).

Despite how the photo's look, in the flesh the bases are quite sandy/gritty and not as green as they appear. This is because I wanted these guys to fit into the Mediterranean/Tunisian theatres more so than NW Europe. Unfortunately, my photographic skills are not very good so I pretty much have to go with what the camera gives me. (Photoshop manipulation can only go so far!)

I like the inclusion of pioneers/engineers. They have 4 bases so that a player can field them as demolition, mine clearance or add a flame thrower for an assault platoon. If you look you'll find that one of the plastic Italeri figures snuck into the the platoon.

The battalion commander demanded a close up. I like FOO base. I'm not sure if this is what these figures are actually supposed to represent but it's what I used them for.

The plastic figures I mentioned above were not left out. I used some of them to make patrol markers. As such they have a different role in a game of O Group so it doesn't really matter if they don't quite fit with the other figures. They still look okay and these bases look better than a flat featureless disc. 

So that's it for the US Infantry. As usual, I don't bother with much detail or things such as unit insignia. Whilst that sort of stuff looks good and I can only admire those folks who take the effort to include those details, I just don't see the point. When they're on the table nobody is going to take notice of such detail. For me a good all-round paint job that looks the part and reasonably decent bases are all that's needed.

P.S.

One other thing about my Americans: I don't have very many vehicles or armour to support them. My main focus has always been Commonwealth/German. Although I have both USSR and US which should both have massive amounts of war-making materiel, I pretty much have bugger all for both of them. What I have for both armies is stored all together in a single plastic box (which is only half full!).

HG Div and Some Other Bits

I've been thinking that I'd like to make a Panzer-grenadier platoon. I've also been thinking that I'd like to paint up the Hermann Goring Division. Which one should I do?

Regular Pz-grenadiers will look pretty much the same as regular infantry figures. I know there are differences but I'm not overly concerned with those tiny details in 20mm. However, I was aware that the HG Div were organised along the same lines as regular Heer Pz-grenadiers so I opted to do them and kill two birds with one stone!

Because I'm hoping to concentrate a bit more on the Mediterranean Theater, the HG Div fit in well. They fought all through Sicily and Italy for almost of the entire campaign before being shipped to the Russian Front in the dying months of the war in 1945.

From what I can tell by looking up some uniform info is that they wore a greenish camouflage tunic with their Luftwaffe grey/blue pants. So that's how I painted them. They may not be perfect to many purists but they look good enough for me.

I did give them green collar tabs!!!

I made the panzerschreck and his #2 out of existing figures from the Plastic Soldier Company German, boxed set. The #1 was a rifleman and #2 was a medic. The weapon came from another PSC kit. I'm unsure but I think it might have been the SdKfz 251 box. I just trimmed it and carved it to fit the figure's contours.

I also made the platoon commander out of a PSC signalman by adding a helmeted head and a doing bit of conversion on an SMG arm from the same box. The sig figure also had a holstered pistol which works well. I like him... Having a puff of his cigarette whilst plotting his next decisive move.

I also took another pic of the HG pioneer section and MMG that I did a few weeks back just so that they're here in the correct context. This pic is the most accurate as far as the paint job is concerned. I don't have a good enough light source to capture the detail in many cases, but this one came out pretty accurate.

For the upcoming Blitzkrieg I have another SdKfz 321. This one is a "Funkspahwagen" or Radio Car.
So calling in those, all important, Stuka strikes on time will be made all the more easier for the glorious Wehrmacht!

And the US get some reinforcements: A Ranger section. At least I think they're Rangers. I'm not sure how the US name thier pioneers/engineers... ?
Anyway, these are mainly AB with a few Simon's Soldiers. I also have some mine detection/clearance teams to go with these but I forgot to photograph them. There're quite a few BAR's and SMG's in this mix & I don't know why. My only guess is that they're keen to get close and personal. They're friendly little fellows!

Allied Support Update

I made a couple of these GMC's (Gun Motor Carriage) about a month back. I made one for the US and one British. I was shown a diagram with two GMC's and a Daimler Dingo that made up a British SPG support section (or whatever it's called) and I decided that would be a nice little unit to make.

So I ordered another box and made them up - Again - one US and one Brit. I now have four of them. Great little models by Italeri from their quick-build range. Very little work required and they take about 30 minutes each. Once again, they're painted for the Mediterranean Theater.

The crew are from AB (except for one of the US gunners who came from the PSC 20mm plastic US Infantry set).

I'm pretty happy with the results and can't wait to get them onto the table where they'll probably die a horrible death.

Here Come the Dogfaces

Greetings Dear Reader,
Here's my first Battle Report for this blog. A 20mm WWII game pitting a platoon of dogface G.I.s against a Damn Nazi, kampfgruppe. I played the Kraut's so the report will be from my point of view but I haven't written an AAR (that's an After Action Report for the uninformed!) involving Americans and the chance to throw in a bunch of typical US racial slurs is just too much for me to resist.

Unfortunately the opportunities to hurl Hollywood style insults at the Germans will be few a far between in this AAR - But I'll put them in where I can. So, I'll have to tailor most of my insults at the GI's using my best Hogan's Heroes derived, German linguistic skills.

The rules: Chain of Command.

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My opponent today was, once again. Chee. He chose the Americans. We set up a table and rolled a random scenario and got an Attack/Defend action. Rolling to check our Force Moral saw Chee gaining +1 to boost his Force Morale to 10.  That made him the attacker and me the defender in my first ever game of COC using Germans.

I set out my 4 Patrol Markers in accordance with the scenario. Chee rolled a d6, got a 6 and got 6 free moves before I was able to retaliate.

Chee locked down my patrol markers pretty quickly after all those free moves. As you can see mine didn't move far from their initial deployment.

Forces:

U.S. - Regular Rifle Platoon - Support: .05 cal, Adjutant, Medic, Pre-Game Barrage.

Damn Nazi's: Regular Infantry Platoon - Support: 5cm Mortar, SdKfz 250 with recce team & MG42.

Let's begin!

We placed our Jump of Points and then the game proper, started. You can tell when the game started because all of a sudden the photo colours became all washed out a'la Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers... Serious stuff indeed!

As, zee Cherman commander I vas surprized by zee pre-game barrache. I vas not exshpecting zat at all. It had a pretty profound effect too and really stifled my ability to react in a timely manner.

The first GI' Joe's to appear was the HMG team and a senior leader in the woods. They were in the center of the US line, on high ground in cover. A good position. 

What to do? I deployed my mortar team and droped a couple of shells on the .50 cal. killing one crew member. Not bad at all. First blood to my brave soldaten! I also tried to deploy a section to my right to take advantage of the buildings. However, the barrage stopped my troops from arriving. My runner was obviously held up taking cover from Yankee shells. But I did manage to deploy a section to my left flank.

The first Yankee squad appeared on my right flank. Right in the open and looking like a nice target for that MG34 that didn't arrive.  

Another squad arrived on the dirt road leading out of town. Both squads took up a tactical position. The HMG fired on the mortar and gave them some shock but nothing they couldn't handle.

I managed to deploy my tardy 1st section but they couldn't make it to the corner building where I wanted them. never mind they'll get there next time. The section on the left moved forward slowly, and my last section arrived in the center. 

The Yank's made a slow advance down the road and the section on the flank moved into cover behind a building.  I called my halftrack onto the road but the barrage kept it pinned down and unable to come forward.

Instead, my right hand section took orders from my senior commander with the MG team moving around the house to enter the door while the rifle team took aim and fired at the Yankee's marching down the road killing one Yankee Doodle Dandy (mit eine Cherman accent). The MG team moved too slowly to get into the building and got caught flat footed by the GI squad who reemerged from their cover. No doubt it was the barrage that was slowing my teams down.

Luckily the US shooting was ineffective and my MG team only took some shock. Certainly no cowboys in this platoon. My rifle section on the other side of the house wasn't so lucky. With the section leader being hit & wounded. 

I made more progress on the left with my section crossing the road and into the fields beyond. They couldn't be targeted by the .50 cal because of their positioning in the woods. I was hoping to get my men around and onto the gun's flank. Likewise my center section was moving forward but, once again too slowly.

I called for the halftrack again and, once more it failed to respond because of the barrage. I had a nice target with a Yankee section sitting right in the middle of the road, but no MG42 to shoot them with.

My MG team on the right managed to get into the cover of the house but the rifle team were too slow. All of my troops were moving slow. I can only have been a result of the barrage. As a result they got shot up again with Lootennatnt Chee using the US Marching Fire to good effect.

I really needed that SdKfz.

In the center and on the left my sections were advancing. The center section and mortar were consistently under fire from the .50 cal but it wasn't having much effect on them. They were also shooting back and slowly wearing the HMG down.

My left section moved up and took a position next to a pigsty close to the stream. They were getting into position to try an assault on the HMG.

Meanwhile on my right, the Yank's were getting ready to try and assault my MG34 in the house. I managed to get the rifle team back with them into the building, but they took more fire on their way, losing another man and, this time, killing the section leader. My moral wasn't looking too good.

Then things got worse... The last American section appeared and they were in the woods with the HMG. They opened up with all their weapons and shot up my troops near the pigsty. 

Then things got even worse... The GI's brought on their assault to take my beaten up team in the house. You can tell this was serious because things went from "washed out" to full on Black and White!

However, my troops put up a tenacious defence and threw the Yankee Doodles back with heavy losses (6 casualties and 3 Shock compared to my 2 casualties). Well done #1 Section.

Then, finally, the halftrack arrived and shot up the GI's on the road. They quickly took cover in a building opposite my senior leader (he was in the white building in the pic below).

In the center the .50 cal had enough. Several of the crew were dead and they had a bunch of shock so they routed casing some concern to Chee's force moral. But my morale was bad. A junior leader wounded and then killed. I'd lost the MG team on the left hand section. But it was the continued fire from the infantry section in the woods that did the trick. I'd been shooting at them but with very little effect. With one major blast they smashed the remaining members of my left hand section with a massive 13 hits!!!

I then proceeded to roll a bunch of 6's and 5's to really ruin their day.

Section wiped out. The section leader killed. Wham! My force moral was down to 3.

So, I ceded the field and lived to fight another day.

Mein Gott im Himmel! Vhere vas zat bloody halftrack!

HOGANNN!!!

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Conclusion:

Yet again is was a very enjoyable game, due to the rules and my opponent. We got a bit stuck on some rules here and there but worked it out in the end. I do get a bit confused between some of the COC and Battlegroup rules. It's not that they're all that similar it's more a case of recalling which rules belong in which game and I'm not yet experienced enough with either set of rules. Not major rules, just minor things for the most part.

I lost the game for two main reasons. 1 - Out patrolled and 2 - that damn pre-game barrage. It really stifled my deployment at crucial times. It was a good support choice by Chee. Having said that, it also added to the game narrative and as far as I'm concerned that''s a good thing. 

That GI section deploying next of the .50 cal - I completely overlooked it. I was thinking: "Come in on the flank, over-run the jumpoff point, assault the guncrew..." BLAMMO! they blasted my section out of existence. It was a chump move by me.

On the other hand, my center section was totally, 100% unscathed. Not even a point of shock even though the .50 cal had targeted them several times. One thing I did notice at time of writing is that I should have had one more point of Support because of the difference in Force Rating. This might have helped because I did actually want a minefield or wire on my right flank which would have been better than...

...That bloody halftrack! It just wouldn't come on. Three times and the barrage kept it out of the action. It must have been fated.

And here's a few extra photo's that I stole from the NWA Facebook page:

Two brave generals deciding their strategies.

Still Reducing the Plastic Hoard

Greetings Folks,
I'm still working on things and getting stuff made. I tend to get on to a subject and blitz it for two or three months at a time. At the moment it's WWII, and I can't see myself losing interest at the moment. Every time I play a game I get inspired to keep going. As far as I can recall it's going to be 28mm Pacific Chain of Command this weekend. Japan v's Australia. I'll be borrowing figures for this one.

But back to my own constructions...

I've made a variety of things over the past few days. Again, it's a bit for everyone (keeps me on my toes).

First a couple of Esci M3 75mm GMC's. One for the Brits and one for the US. This was a really nice & easy kit to make. Two models in the box with enough decals for two US or two British versions. So that leaves a nice bunch of extra decals for other things. But they need some crew which I'll get when I visit Eureka in two days time. I think I might get another set of these.

And, while were at it: The U.S. get a few more toys. A troop of M3 Halftracks from PSC. I have some more coming my way that I found going cheap online. And if necessary I can always sub Brit and US halftracks if I need to make up numbers.

A resin M4 76mm. This is a resin model that I picked up from Uncle Les at CANCON a few years back. It had a pretty rudimentary spray job so I decided to give it a repaint and add some decals.

And a little SdKfz 250/9 painted in dunkelgrau for 1939 - '41 Blitzkrieg era. This is also from Uncle Les. It's a 3D print and I believe it's one of his earliest efforts. It's a nice clean print but it's very lacking in detail. Otherwise, it's a nice little model that'll do the job.

And, I made sure those pesky Russian's didn't get left out this time around. They get this behemoth land-dreadnought - T-35. I added some figures to give it some scale but it didn't work out. The pic doesn't really give a true idea of the size of this thing. Even in 20mm - It's bloody huge.

A Little Bit For Everyone

I've been doing a whole bunch of stuff. Little bits and pieces to just to get things made (or finished).
I've also been making various pieces of terrain but I'll post those separately at a later date.

First: The Brits get a Churchill AVRE. I bought two boxes of PSC Churchill's. Four models and only three tanks to a troop left me with one extra. So here's some engineer support for when it's needed.

I got the putty out and added a tarpaulin and sandbags for some detail as well as some other little odd bits I had sitting around doing nothing.

Second: Germany gets some armour and recce for the Blitzkrieg era ('39 - '41). Armourfast Pz III's and an SdKfz 222 form... I don't know where (but I do know Who - Thank you Sean).

Third - The US get a jeep. Not much, I know, but at least they get something to keep them happy.

And, as an extra bonus: The Brits also get some air power in the shape of a Hawker Typhoon. This little chap is going to be welcome by some and feared by others.