Aircraft Stand

One of the most important weapons in the world is the aeroplane. They can destroy armies with impunity from the skies if they are not challenged. That means for my wargames set in World War 2, I needed planes. So I built up for of these bases.

The design is very simple. Just a cardboard base hot glued to a long piece of plastic from kitsets and blu-tack to stick the plane to the plastic. The only problem is balance so certains planes hold up better than others.

This is the near common scene of a British plane strafing a German armoured column.

A YouTube Video: The Duke of Wellington's Army

This is a crazy massive army that is amazing. 25,000 British infantry in the Napoleonic Era. It is amazing and would be impossible to wargame with (of course). Imagine someone doing an entire battle 1:1.

American Revell Infantry

Here is finally troops that are not knock-offs. These Revell American Infantry I think are very good. The mortars and heavy machine guns are very good and well representative. Although these are winter infantry, I didn't paint them in white coats or wearing gloves. The detail is well shown and these will be the mainstay of the American forces in my miniature army.

World War 2 Chinese Infantry (NRA)

Here are my Chinese infantry. These are a mixture of only knock-off infantry. The German Airfix knock-offs represent the ones equipped by the Germans in the 20s, Airfix French to represent the trumpeter and troops using the Adrian helmets. The Airfix Afrika Korps to represent those equipped with German units and using caps. The other knock-offs that are unidentifiable are Japanese painted as Chinese. Those include the a Dadao armed soldier These troops are pretty convincing in a wargame setting.

I do have troops which are not knock-offs but there are so few Chinese sets in 1/72 and the Commandos in the previous post looked more cooler with the green berets than not.

British Commandos

Here are some knock-off 1/72 Airfix British Paratroopers (1/32 scale turned to 1/72) painted as British Commandos. These poses are good and I think these figures should have actually be made by Airfix instead of that awful set released for British Paratroopers with confusing poses like the "stretching guy".

I cut up Weetbix boxes and fold up as smaller boxes to store my troops. It is a pretty efficient way to store infantry.

Recent Projects: Italians, Russians and British Vehicles

Here are some new pictures of some vehicles that I got earlier in the building process.

The Airfix Ilyushin Strumovik has the crew painted but the rest is waiting for several coats of paint.
Here, I have some Armorfast Hät Cromwells that are the mainstay of the late war British army. Also some 2 Airfix Churchills. These tanks will be big boost to the British late war forces.
The Italian M13/40 was the main Italian made tank of the Italian Army. This tank is very cool but was crap in the face of British forces. This tank and the other are good armoured companions to the Italian and German infantry.
This Italeri clip together kit is nice and simple without any lack of detail.
Also I have a desert 4.5/5.5 inch gun to provide the 8th Army artillery cover. The crew are a mixture of knock-off modified Airfix 8th Army and knock-off 1/72 versions of the 1/32 scale Airfix British paratroopers. I decided to use them instead of 25 pounder crew as they look more exciting and cover more aspects.
An Humber armored car that my Dad got and Trade Me completed has been painted and weathered by me. I have needed this reconnaissance for British desert forays against the Afrika Korps.
All these tanks and aircraft will be used later on in wargames along with the newer stuff I brought from Cambridge.

New Stuff

I have not been updating for a while due to school. However the school year is almost over here in New Zealand so I can update this blog more often.

Recently, I went to the Armistice Day event in Cambridge. I found a bargain with some Revell and Itareli stuff.

The Wespe was an amazing deal. It cost about $15 NZ . That is down from $27 NZ normal price. I've always wanted to buy and build a Wespe as they have such a cool design from early war equipment.

Another set I got was the Veltro. It was $13 down from $19. I have been fascinated with World War 2 Italian Equipment making this a great buy.

Basing

I will show you how I base my infantry. Here is my example. These are Airfix, Esci and knock off 1/32 Airfix infantry in a combination.

Step 1: Glue infantry onto bases with PVA. Bases are 4cm x 2cm or 2cm x 2cm depending on 1 or 2 figures.
Step 2: Paint a base coat on the base. I use brown since often dirt is seen underneath grass. A green base coat is good if you do not have a lot of flock and want to make the base have almost only grass.

Step 3: 'Paint' on PVA glue (preferably watered down to flow easier). This is for the flock to glue on.
Step 4: Put on the flock. Any excess flock should be tapped off.
Step 5: Let the glue dry. A coat of varnish should keep too much flock from falling off.

German vs British Battle

Set in 1943, somewhere in Italy, a unit of British infantry accompanied by 2 Churchills have to capture a German held town. The Germans have half the infantry but one formidable Tiger tank.
Turn One: The Churchills start driving down the road by the hedge towards the town. British infantry accompany the British tanks.

The German Tiger starts entering the town it guards.
British Churchills aiming at entrenched German infantry in the buildings. Some infantry get hit by the firing.
Turn Two: Churchills engage the German Tiger tank. The tanks are in a stalemate since the Churchills 6 pounders cannot breach the Tiger tanks armour and the Tiger's 88 rounds are having trouble piercing the Churchill armour.

British infantry start preparing for a charge into the town while under German fire.
Turn Three: The Churchills start moving into the town. The Tiger tank moves to block their advance. No tank has has breached armour yet. German infantry in the buildings are unable to hit the Churchills.
The British infantry charge begins with extremely heavy casualties. German infantry in the building reek havoc.
The armoured stalemate continues.

Turn Four: British infantry continue the charge with more heavy casualties. However they are almost in the town. A foolhardy German commanders sends some troops to attack the British infantry flank. The attack fails.
In order to break the stale, the the front Churchill has commenced a flanking action to get a clean point blank shot at the Tigers rear. No tanks have been pierced yet. The second Churchill aims to keep the Tiger distracted.
The infantry charge continues to take casualties. The Germans look like could hold off the assault.
Turn 5: The Churchill tank finishes the flanking manoeuvre and puts a shell in the Tiger tanks rear. It is does not finish it off. The 2nd Churchill fires a shell on the damaged Tiger and finishes it off.

The British infantry charge has gained a foothold but massive casualties were inflicted upon it. German infantry start getting pushed out of the town.
Turn 6: Churchills begin firing on the buildings to clear the German infantry. British infantry stop taking casualties. German infantry lose the advantage.
A German retreat is issued. The British have taken the town.
Casualties: 34 out of 49 British infantry are casualties. The 2 Churchills remain intact
18 out of 32 German infantry are casualties. The Tiger tank is destroyed.

In the end the British infantry charge caused more casualties than needed be. It is a British Pyrrhic Victory. The British took the town but with a lot of casualties. The German succeeded tactically but they needed to hold onto the town to claim victory.