689 - Painting Chart Updates (Part 2 - Ancients)

Hullo, All,

I shall keep this one brief as it's once again self-explanatory...

...except that I've not really covered my recent dive into 'Ancients' very much.

Suffice it to say that

1. I was given a bunch of 'Hail Caesar' Vikings;
2. I bought a bunch of 'Saga' Anglo-Danes cheaply;
3. I was given a bunch of 'Mortal Gods' Thebans, and
4. I was given a bunch of 'SPQR' Gallic-Celts.

The rest - if you'll pardon a weak pun - is history. 

Where it is I plan to go with all of this is for a future post; for now, here are the collections...:

TTFN,

- Drax. 

688 - Painting Chart Updates (Part 1 - WWII)

Hullo All,

Well, I'm back at work (which sucks) but I'm also partway through a pretty productive summer!

I thought I'd mark this by updating where I am with all of my forces and projects, starting with the WWII 28mm stuff. Next post will be the Ancient and Dark Ages stuff, which has been...er...expanding rather rapidly of late!

So without further ado, this is where I am with my...

British 4KSLI (11th Armoured Division): 

(Here's the key, by the way)

The British Indian Army in the Desert:

British Paras:

German Early-War Heer:

German Late-War Heer Grenadiers: 

...and finally, the RAF Regiment and the (as yet unbuilt but nevertheless expanding) US Buffalo Soldiers:

Cheers,

- Drax.

668 - 2018 Winter Challenge: British Paras! Days 16-32

Evening, All!

This screen-grab of my latest Draxian Painting Chart(TM), shows which
Paras are built so far [pink] and which are currently being painted [blue].

Again, mixed fortunes in the interim with regard to to the hurried painting to completion of my 21st Independent Coy Paras. On the one hand, my red ('Crusted Sore!') arrived and - although the pics below won't do it justice - it's PERFECT...

...and on the other hand, THIS arrived,  

...so naturally I had to both build all the vessels and play a game of it. Two more nights gone, and totally worth it. More on this second naval skirmish in a future post.

Then I did manage to get some painting done. Whist still waiting for the Crusted Sore I painted everyone's flesh and even managed to complete the painting on my RAF Regiment PIAT team:

It's hard to tell, but the fellows below now have the red-brown camo patches:

...and then, THIS happened: I had to dig out my Sikh and Destroy army for an early-war desert-themed event hosted by the entirely excellent Vital Ground Wargames Group up in County Durham:

I had to repack these to get them into my carry-on

My end of the 24ft-long table during Turn 1. I had a blast,
but - inevitably - this is for a future blogpost.

(Note the new mug)

I'm pleased to announce that - even with too many evenings squandered on my poxy day-job work - I believe that I should be able to get the remaining tropers FINISHED in 5-6 days.

Do I have this long until the end of January (my arbitrary time limit)? - Yes. Just. But already, REAL LIFE is threatening those remaining days (note that I'm typing here - not painting!) so I may run over time. C'est la vie, eh?

So there. I may well manage it, but I'm not going to break myself trying, that's for sure!

TTFN,

- Drax.

640 - Bolt Action 28mm Heer Showcase (Part III: Support Units)

It's been a while since I showcased my toys, and I've never really done it with my newer ones, so here are the Late-War Germans. You'll find parts 1 and  (infantry and vehicles) immediately prior to this post - I'd love for you to take a look at them if you've time enough...

Part 3 of 3 - Support Units:

(N.B: As with the infantry squads in part 1, the static grass looks far less bright in real life!)

Nebelwerfer:

I love this unit, and I really love the characterful models: great fun all round. 
Yes, I know that the fellow sharing his base with the 'werfer could never stand there whilst it was firing - it's a little creative licence on my part! It serves not only to balance out the base, but also to give me something with which to carefully pick up the launcher itself!

Panzerschreck:

I think these (and some of my other
Support teams) are technically
Fallschirmjäger models, but they're
Heer now!

Generic Officer:

Okay, so I've recently discovered that
he's actually supposed to be Joachim
Pieper...but as I (a) need an OC and
(b) won't go near SS, he's Heer now too.

81mm Medium Mortar and Spotter:

I love my mortars!
Obviously, the spotter is REVIEWING
HIS FIREPLAN - not "reading a novel"
as one of my erstwhile opponents suggested!

Flamethrower:

My Flammenwerfer team should also be
Fallschirmjäger, I think. Either way, they
isually operate as members of my crack
Assault Engineer team...and in two games
so far they've been utterly useless.

Sniper:

This fellow is sometimes useful, but
let's not pin too many of the Reich's
hopes on him, eh?!
Also Fallschirmjäger.

So there you have it!

In the German pipeline we have the following projects a-bubbling:

• My E-50 and second Panther to finish,
• More Early-War/Blitzkrieg infantry,
• My captured Bren Carrier with PaK 36, and
• Three more EW vehicles...eventually!

Thanks so much for swinging by - I should have some interesting news, soon...

- Drax.

639 - Bolt Action 28mm Heer Showcase (Part II: Vehicles)

Hullo!

It's been a while since I showcased my toys, and I've never really done it with my newer ones, so here are the Late-War Germans. You'll find parts 1 and 3 (infantry and support units) both before and after this post - I'd love for you to take a look at them if you've time enough...

Part 2 of 3 - Vehicles:

(N.B: The Rotbraun on these is far more muted in real life.)

Panzer V - Panther Ausf. D:

What a beauty.

 Panzer IV Ausf. H:

My workhorse. The side Schurzen are
painted with just two colours - as if theyd
been salvaged from another vehicle.

Hanomags -
Sd.Kfz 251/10 Ausf. C & 251/1 Ausf. D:

The Boss's ride. The number '36'
helps to remind me that it's armed
with a PaK 36!

All my Hanomags have the rear MMG
modelled in a 'stowed' position, as I
sometimes like to use them (especially
when facing US airstrikes) but don't
want them to break off.

My three Hanomags together.

 Transporting Transport:

As with all of my German models, I'm using cheap-ass Tesco pencil cases. The two Panzers have their own box each, but these halftracks have to share. Luckily, we can make it work...

...with a bit of careful planning and labelling!

More in a couple of days,

Cheers,

- Drax.

638 - Bolt Action 28mm Heer Showcase (Part I: Infantry)

Hullo!

It's been a while since I showcased my toys, and I've never really done it with my newer ones, so here are the Late-War Germans. You'll find parts 2 and 3 (vehicles and support units) up within the week too - I'd love for you to take a look at them if you've time enough...

Part 1 of 3 - Infantry:

Veteran Assault Engineers:

These chaps sport a flamethrower,
an LMG and 2 Panzerfausts. 

A close-up of the Flammenwerfer.

Heer Grenadier Veteran Squad 1:

Packing an LMG and 2 Panzerfausts.
The NCO has an assault rifle too.

Heer Grenadier Veteran Squad 2:

This squad is armed identically to
Squad 1...

...And their squad markings are on
the underside of their base washers.

Heer Grenadier Squad 3:

The observant amongst you may have
noticed that these are actually early-ish
war minis: they are equipped and painted
for EW, but the plan is to use them in
LW settings as Luftwaffe Field Division
or as luckless garrison troops.

(There are also 11 of them here, as their own Lt snuck into the pic!)

Storage:

For my Germans, I've taken to using
cheap Tesco pencil cases with strong
magnetic sheet inside. Works brilliantly!

Thanks for visiting; more to follow soon!

- Drax.