Substitute Stug

 Well it's been a while since my last update. It has unfortunately been a busy month, both work and personal-wise, which has limited the painting. Nevertheless, I have got some stuff done.

First are 4 more Stug IV for my Flames of War German's. These were designed as a substitute for the Stug III on the Panzer IV chassis. They were put into production as one of the factories building Stug IIIs had been badly damaged in an air raid. These were then produced until the end of the war, with over 1000 being built.

The models are from Forged in Battle and means I now have 8 of these available.

Secondly, I have also finished these 20mm British Gun Crew. These are from the Airfix vintage Bren Carrier and 6 Pounder set, I bought as a railway load. I decided to paint these up anyway in case I needed them, with a simple paint job. They are not great figures, especially the kneeling crew who are noticeably over scale.

Hunting Tigers

Today's update are my completed Jagdtigers ("Hunting Tiger"). This was a heavy German tank hunter with a fixed superstructure mounting a 128mm gun, based on the Tiger II chassis. 

These models are Battlefront plastic kits, from the "Clash of Steel" starter set. The went together fairly well, have some nice details (I like the anti-aircraft MG42 machine gun and the bucket on the sprue) and they were nice to paint.

Not sure how often these will be used, but they are there if I want a really big anti-tank punch in a German force.

Panzer Reconnaissance

So I have managed to finish 6 more tanks, 3 Panzer IIs and 3 German Armoured Cars (Sd Kfz 221/222).

These are all Battlefront models and have been good to build and paint, with the exception of the armoured car wheels, which were challenging to get to fit well.

Armoured Cars

with 2.8cm Anti-tank rifle turret

Panzer II

Next up is something a bit bigger.

2023: A Year in Review

So it's a new year, so how has the last year gone (painting-wise, let's not get into the rest).

Well firstly I've squeezed out another three models, 3 captured Panther tanks for my Soviets. These were used for decoy operations when captured (used to lead advanced to confuse the Germans, for example). Panther were generally not maintained, they were run until something broke, then abandoned.

These have brought my total painted for the year to 117. This is good, as this is significantly better than last year, and more in line with 2019, which is probably the best non-pandemic comparison.

To what did I get done? 

• Dapol Platform Figures
• M47 and M48 Tanks for the Jordanian army.
• Railway Buildings, loading gauge and scatter scenary
• Dapol Cattle Wagon and an Airfix repaint
  
• Reaper Bones Dryad
• Minefields for all forces
• Ral Partha Thuggee Cultist
• 4 US Para Jeeps
• L4 Grasshopper AOP (completing my US forces)
• Tunesian Germans
  
• 6 Nebelwerfers 
• 8 Panzergrenadier stands
• 4 Armoured Cars
• Objectives
  
• a 5cm Pak38 gun
• 5 Panzer III tanks
  
• 6 Soviet BA-64 armoured cars
• 3 Decoy Panthers
• 10 Milan Teams (completing my Team Yankee British)
• 4 Renault FT tanks
• 3 Wespe self propelled artillery
• a Panzerbeobachtungswagen III

The biggest success of the year has been getting a usable Tunisian force painted, however I'm also pleased with getting two forces "complete" (Providing I'm barred from gaming stores to prevent me reinforcing them) and getting back up to a better level of productivity.

My biggest regret has been the lack of actual gaming, thanks to work, a new love life and me not being organised enough to get games set up earlier. Annoyingly, I will miss Corrivalry this year as I have foolishly planned a ski holiday over the top of it!

So what are the plans for next year?

1. Paint the German units I have assembled, lots of halftracks and reconnaissance units.
2. Try to buy less new stuff and build what I have to reduce the stockpile (and save money).
3. Try to game more.

Here's looking to 2024!

Fire from Above!

 So I've managed to get 4 more models done. Hopefully, might get 3 more before the end of the year.

This time I've got my Wespes and Panzerbeobachtungswagen III completed.

The Wespes are Battlefront, while the Panzer III is Forged in Battle.

French Connection

 So I have just finished a large assembly and airbrushing job.

First out of this work are these German (previously French) FT tanks. Designed at the end of the First World War, these were used at the start of the Second World War by the French before being taken over by the Germans as booty tank (Beutepanzer). Here they were normally used for second line roles, such as airfield defense, training, dug in as bunkers and policing/anti-partisan actions. Once France was re-invaded by the Allies, a small number of these vehicles would end up caught up in the fighting.

These are Forged in Battle models and were on a good discount for Firestorm Games, so I picked them up more as a painting project than anything else. Two have Machine Guns and two have 37mm guns.

MILAN Rouge

So I have made some progress (and have managed to get some gloss varnish).

Firstly, 10 British MILAN teams for Team Yankee.

Secondly, I have repainted an old Lima Homepride box van into an LMS wagon. Thankfully Army Painter Cold Grey spray paint was a near perfect mid grey.