WW2 ‘German’ Don Cossacks

 

I've had these in stock for a while now and as I may have work for them in a forthcoming game it was clearly time to paint them!

They're certainly a colourful crowd.

Panzer people

I originally started work on this interesting set three years ago but promptly mislaid it. It surfaced again yesterday (while I was searching for something else entirely). I’ll shortly be menacing these poor chaps with the dangerous end of a paintbrush.

Foy-Notre-Dame - part 2

 As we rejoin the action, Mark is still trying to get his radio to function.

The Americans have had a bloody nose trying to get into the village. 

The company of M5 Stuarts has found the minefield. The hard way. 

On the German left, while the AT gunners and Panzerfausts have had a good run, the infantry’s luck is in danger of running out. 

At last - here comes some US air support. So that’s who Mark has been calling up. 

Amazingly, one of the Panther platoons is hit!

Simon’s British Motor Co pushes into the village, assisted by fire from the accompanying tank sqn and carrier Plt. 

The German infantry headed for their getaway halftrack. 

One of the burning Shermans was John’s OP tank. Luckily a replacement OP has trudged through the woods to join the HQ troop. 

The Puma Plt gets off a cheeky shot before hiding in the woods. This allows John’s tanks to move forward. 

Here comes another flight of P-38s

A British tank sqn working its way round the flank of the Panthers. Much to Mark’s relief!

Boom! The surviving Panther Plt brews another troop of Shermans….

…but is finally seen off by the efforts of more Shermans. Note the burning Firefly troop.  

By now the Germans could read the writing on the wall and withdrew their surviving troops, allowing the Allies to consolidate in the village. An honourable draw and a very entertaining game to run. Well done everyone!

A walk in the sun

 

This was a Vietnam skirmish-level game I ran over Zoom a few weeks ago. Half a dozen or so players joined me, each commanding small units, and I moved the toys around and resolved combat using A Fistful of Lead rules. The figures are all 54mm - a mix of MARS and TSSD. For most, this was their first deployment. 

The field of battle - a mere 30x40 inches!  The trees were purely representative - the whole area was horrible jungle - but added considerably to the look and feel of the thing. 

The US squad leader’s team - complete with radio man and medic.  The latter was kept very busy. 

Small detachments of NVA soon emerged from their hidey holes - the rotters!  Hello markers are shaken, red are wounds. See what I meant about that medic?

The US M60 team went off the the left of the track - would they avoid the baddies?

View from the NVA end. This fellow has just emptied a mag into the US point man. 

The view that none of the players had! The ground rises nearer the camera - this was the US objective. 

Remember the M60 team?  Here they are under fire from a sniper. 

Soon RPGs and grenades were adding to the fun. But the front of the US squad was almost atop the ridge.  What could go wrong?

This could!  An NVA controlled Claymore mine takes down the lead pair of Americans. It was agreed that my party popper was an excellent way of simulating this.  

A very entertaining game to run and  - so I am told - play. We’ll return to Vietnam in the coming months.  

Sailors from Mars? WW2 German Naval Troops

I painted these chaps last year, having bought them on the basis of ‘buy them when you see them’ as a lot of these 54mm plastics seem to come and go quite quickly. 

I find that some of these Mars figures need some work to remove moulding lines and the heads can look a bit too small, but when painted in my usual ‘toy soldier’ style they look OK. And of course the white trousers are a bonus!

My favourite pose is the officer changing the magazine on his SMG.