Since December, I have not been idle on the modeling front. Quite the opposite, in fact. You've seen my earlier posts with my British and my Perry Germans. At the time I'd been content with the results, not happy mind you, but content. Then I went to Operation Sting last October and my modeling world was turned upside down. I was actually tremendously embarassed at the level of skill on my troops, especially when compared to other forces that were there. John's Airborne, Jeremy's Italians, those were top notch. Several others had armies that were excellent too, and I just looked at mine with disdain. After the weekend was over I decided it was time to make a better showing... and then I signed up for Adepticon and I knew I had to do SOMETHING.
My Germans were on eBay in no time... and I had some cash to start a new army.
About this same time I also sold my Brits because they were not up to the standard I felt I could do. The fellow that bought them also comissioned me to finish the unpainted units. I do not like painting to a timeline and don't think I'll do that ever again. It was nice to have 'finished' the army though, and I had a little more cash to play with.
In my games at home, I usually played against Robert and his veteran US Airborne. One thing I learned in all of those games was a hatred of veteran units in Bolt Action. Having some disposable income from the Brits sale, I thought I'd do up a squad of assault-rifle armed Waffen-SS soldiers. First, I'd bring them on as a flanking unit that would punish whatever they attacked... give him a dose of his own medicine, if you will. Second, I had always been intimidated by German camouflage patterns. I'd been defeated by Splittermuster earlier in the year but was inspired by a member of the forum. After all... if I could paint Waffen SS camo patterns, I should be able to paint anything. So, I purchased five models to test my ability. I was also using this to bide my time until Warlord's plastic Late War Panzergrenadiers came out.. a box set for which I'd been yearning since starting Bolt Action.
The five Waffen SS models turned out brilliantly, so I set out to get a couple more and fill out a squad.
... and then i realized I now had almost 20 Waffen SS soldiers with assault rifles. Wait a minute. This... this was practically the start of a new army. Was this a viable option? I did some studying because, let's be honest, there is a bit of a stigma attached to fielding Waffen SS soldiers given the infamy of their real-life counterparts. In reasearching, I found the 9th SS Panzer Division. They were formed later in the war and did not have the laundry list of war crimes attached to their name. Just one, in fact, and that was a medic firing from an ambulance. I can deal with that. The 9th also fought in France after D-Day, with great tenacity... this is also a plus. They fought in and around Arnhem, so I could face Robert's Airborne. They fought on the Eastern Front, so I could face Tyler's Soviets. Perfect!
Then I realized that I only had two months before Adepticon, and I'd committed to Germans. I'd sold my regular Germans, and my late-war Fallschirmjager were no where near ready. But these Waffen SS dudes, with assault rifles and the 'Fanatics' rule, ate up a lot of points. I could paint this force in time for Adepticon, in theory.
Well that didn't work out as well as I'd have liked and there were a few late night cram sessions trying to get the painting done. The night before Adepticon I was up till 4am painting, and then woke up at 6am to get basing done. It'd dry before game 1 at 9am right?
One thing I realized in my games at Adepticon is that I'd become that which I so loathed... the jerk that brought Veterans... with assault rifles... and the Fanatics rule. They were great fun to play, and their resilience let me try tactics I'd never try with regular infantry. I did set out to paint up more rifle-armed soldiers so that I wouldn't feel AS bad. I got to use these guys at a local tournament a few months later and they were awesome. I actually won the tournament, and learned even more about how to use veterans in Bolt Action.
I now had just over 1500 points of painted Waffen SS infantry... quite a stretch past the one squad I'd planned. They looked great too. I was really happy with the level I had achieved, and set that as my standard moving forward. Then came the big game.
I played a big game where three German players with 1000 points each squared off against a US player with 3000 points. We played long-ways on an eight foot table. I'd dreamed of this game for a while. I was the only one with a dedicated infantry platoon on the Germans side, and the American side was all Vets with vet tanks in support. Multiple air observers, a Long Tom artillery piece... basically, everything the Americans do excellently times three. My infantry was largely useless in the game as it was primarily an armored battle and I didn't have transports to clear five feet of table quickly. The game had left me with a bitter taste. It was like I'd abandoned everything I stood for in Bolt Action. My buddy had been painting early-war French Foreign Legion based on the Norway campaign of 1940.. and that got me to thinking.
So now, having 1500 points of Waffen SS painted, and another 200-300 points started (all just infantry, no tanks) I put them aside and started on my Fallschirmjager. At long last I was getting to the army I'd started when I first pre-ordered Bolt Action three years earlier. Since Duane was doing early war, I decided to do the same. After all, the exploits of the Fallschirmjager... in Norway... at Eben Emael and the Albert Canal in Belgium... at the Corinth Canal in Greece and on Crete... at Stalingrad as the situation worsened.. these were the stuff of legend.
My early-war Fallschirmjager are coming along smashingly. I hope to have them done for Operation Sting in October. I have had one game against Duane's FFL and it was a blast. There was none of the sheer brutality of late war games. Tyler's looking at early war lists for his Soviets, too. Things are going in the right direction. Hopefully we'll demonstrate how cool the early war stuff is to others as well.
So that's what I've been up to since I last posted. I painted a British Commando army and a tank, then sold all my Brits. I painted 1000 points of US Rangers. I painted 1500 points of Waffen SS infantry. I sold off my cursed IJA army. I picked up Saga, though have not purchased any models. I picked up Skirmish Sangin and painted a few figs for that, US Marines in Afghanistan. I finally started on a Fallschirmjager army and have just finished my second squad for that.
Thus, I have not been idle in the interim. I endeavor, of course, to share pictures of all this with you.
If you've read through all that, you must be bored. Here are a few teaser pics for you. As I mentioned, you shall be seeing posts specific to these armies with more pics.
Cheers!
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