As I mentioned last time, I've been plowing through some Early War Fallschirmjager for Bolt Action. Having played all late-war games since I started the game (three years ago!) I've been getting a little burnt out on it. The proliferation of veterans, assault rifles, killer tanks, and all that makes for really brutal games. If the opponent is one of those 'win at all costs' types too, it can be no fun.
A buddy of mine had been thinking along similar lines and had started an Early War French Foreign Legion army, based around the intense yet short campaign in Norway (1940). Another buddy had remarked that he'd structured his Soviets to be workable in either early- or late-war platoons by simply swapping a tank. This got me thinking... after all, I DO like the grey look. I decided that I, too, would do early-war. My first inclination was to do a Blitzkreig force... but at the same time, I had a LOT of Fallschirmjager models laying around. I'd start with an early-war Fallschirmjager platoon then. After all, they'd fought in Norway against the FFL. They'd fought in the Soviet Union early on, too. And... of course... there are the absolutely fascinating stories of the Fallschirmjager assault on the fortress at Eben Emael, the taking of the Corinth Canal bridge, or the hellacious campaign for the island of Crete.
The force I've chosen is sort of like a sampling of the DNA from Norway, Belgium, and Greece with elements from each. I think it's got a decent punch, despite not taking vehicles. Those of you that know me know that I've been fascinated by the FJ's since I first learned of them. This, then, just made sense. Painting... GO!
One thing about painting. Early-war Fallschirmjager jump smocks were a greenish-grey color. Did you know that Vallejo has Green-grey? Perfect! Oh. Wait. They have TWO paints called green-grey. Also, grey-green which is only one number different than green-grey and not at all the same. Lesson learned.
I decided to do flowers on the bases (Do any flowers grow around here?) to add a little color, and because with late war models you typically see a lot of bases with rubble and patchy greens. For me, using green grass, tall grass, and flowers in combination was somewhat symbolic of the early war campaigns... before all the large-scale battles and bombings and other destruction.
So first up, Kurt Steiner.
Seriously? I named my commander? Well... not that I haven't done that before, but in this case, the model is actually Michael Caine's character depiction of Oberst Kurt Steiner from the movie adaptation of The Eagle Has Landed. The book was excellent, and the movie isn't bad at all. Caine is perfect for the role. When I saw Warlord had the model... it was a done deal. If you've read the book, you of course know that Steiner was a Leutnant during the 1940 campaigns before his Captaincy at Crete. Thus, I chose to use him as my Oberleutnant. The fellow with him is, I decided, Ritter Neumann from the book/movie as well. Neumann would eventually become an officer himself. Both models are Warlord.
Pretty happy with how the Steiner model came out. Neumann... acceptable. That figure is the THIRD time I had to order it. The barrel of his MP40 was already broken each time it arrived, so in the end I chopped off the hands and surgically added plastic hands and MP40 from my regular German bits bin.
Next up, my first rifle squad. The squad is predominantly Black Tree Design, but the LMG team is by Crusader. I truly like the BTD models, not so much the Crusader. When one is picky about accurate uniform and weapon depictions, one must make sacrifices. I'm really happy with how these fellas turned out, even the 'test' model which had to be done three times before I was happy. The squad is nine models because that's how many would fit in the DFS 230 glider, or a Ju 52 transport.
The second squad is primarily models by Warlord. I've had these partially painted for almost three years, but in a late-war smock pattern. One bottle of Simple Green and a toothbrush cleared THAT right up. They were re-primed and painted as early-war Fallschirmjager. There were a few models that had open-legged tunics which I felt were too short to be late-war smocks, but not closed-leg in order to pass as early-war so I decided I'd do them as Fallschirmjager that had lost or discarded their smocks. The Luftwaffe blue tunics were a chance to add a little color, too. Warlord's models are a little older and I have to say their sculpts have improved quite a bit since these were done. Some were good... some were a little, um, disfigured.
The kneeling rifleman had a scope on his rifle originally... when I clipped it off some remnants were left on the face, so I decided to paint it as a bandage. After all, parachuting into the midst of the enemy is bound to result in some injuries, right? The LMG team is again by Crusader.
Now, of course, if one is looking at a Fallschirmjager force with references from Eben Emael and Crete, having a squad of assault engineers is a must. Black Tree models again, as they make purpose built engineers. I added some pouches to one figure, and found a couple other models with pouches that kind of fit in.
One of the chaps with binoculars doesn't fit in, for me... so he'll be moved to mortar spotter, and I'll paint up another rifleman.
I tried to get the fellow with the flammenwerfer (a gift from my child) look more sooty than the rest of the squad. I think I got it a little too heavy on his face but.. well... I don't know how many times I'd have to re-do it.
That's it for the moment. From here on out I've got a couple of weapons teams to do... and just about 30 days with which to do it before the Operation Sting tournament. I'd really like to be able to use these guys for that. No assault rifles, no panzerfausts, no armored cars or tanks, taking historically accurate units even if LMG's and MMG's aren't all that great in Bolt Action. May not place high, but I'll have brought a good, clean list.
I'm hoping to at least make a good showing in the best-painted competition.. but wholly accept that there aren't any complicated camouflage patterns like my SS force to really set them apart. We shall see.
Anyway, comments are welcomed. Hope to be back with more soon.
Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment