Tamiya US gun & mortar set

I've had this venerable Tamiya set knocking about for a while now, so recently I released the parts into the wild and began assembly.  It's a useful 'top-up' to soft plastic figure sets which are fine for blokes with rifles, SMG and LMG but tend to be lacking anything heavier.  This set contains a .30 cal MG, a Bazooka, a 0.50 cal AAMG and a mortar, along with eight crew figures.

Like all of these Tamiya kits it all went together easily enough.  The paintwork is intended to help them fit in with my 54mm Airborne figures.

Battered bargain bunkers belatedly bodged

I picked up this trio of 15mm resin bunkers at a bring & buy last year. I didn’t particularly need them but their cheapness won me over. They then languished on a shelf until their luck ran out last weekend when I decided to attend to them.
As I intend to use them as small bunkers with 54mm figures (that howl you heard was the ‘proper’ wargamers expressing their outrage...) I removed the French tank (R-35) turrets which all three sported and added a couple of cupolas I had kicking about. Next I re-painted and stuck them onto hardboard bases - one raised on an ‘embankment’ carved from 1-inch insulation board. Finally I drilled holes and glued in half-matchsticks as posts for the barbed wire.

When the paint dries I’ll take a couple of photos with figures. So stand by for further howling.

Added 20/11/19 - at Nigel’s suggestion (so don’t blame me) I’ve added a pair of staring eyes in the cupola vision slit. Clearly, this is intended for a very serious wargame....

Hedgerow Unpleasantness

I ran this game a couple of weeks ago, with (mostly) A Fistful of Lead rules and a scenario I found on the internet.  John led the US forces and Diego the Germans (sometimes aided by me).  The terrain was an assortment of bits and pieces with the old Airfix 1/32 Strongpoint building as a centrepiece.
All photos by Diego and used here with his kind permission.

The first Germans arrive - mostly Deetail figures.  There was thick fog at the start of the game, with visibility a mere 12 inches.  See that wee wood across the road from the house?

It contained an infestation of Deetail Americans.  The US forces consisted of a rifle squad with a mortar in support.

 More Germans.  There was eventually a total of 2 sections (1 yet to appear), a mortar (to the left of the rear truck) and an MMG (in the field).  The trucks are diecast and plastic Citroens.

 By now the German section was engaged in a costly firefight with the Yanks in the wood.

John - wearing suitable hat - fires his mortar.  It's not poor photography - he really does look this blurred.

 The second German section had by now arrived in their (Opel) lorry and deployed into the field.

Having dashed across the ploughed field, as they deployed the MG team came under fire from a US BAR in the house.  The rotter!  The dice tell the whole sad tale.  Dead gunner, dead NCO and a loader keeping his head down.

 A grown man playing with toy soldiers.  His identity remains a mystery....

Diego clearly having a nice time.  His smile may be related to the red (wound) markers on the Yanks in the wood.

Endgame.  By now the fog was lifting a bit and the broken down Sherman near the house became visible.  It turned out that the senior US NCO spent the whole game hiding behind it's diecast armour.

Soviet Naval Infantry - part 1

I have a game project in mind for next year which either creates a need - or provides an excuse - for modest numbers of Naval Infantry. I’d been aware of the Pegasus figures for a while and so recently bought a box. These are soft plastic figures and require some assembly. That said, the soft plastic is harder plastic than most soft plastic. Clear?  Good. 

Of course, you can’t just buy one set so while shopping I spotted this Zvezda set. These chaps are hard plastic with each figure having a dozen or so parts. 

The assembled comrades having just been based. 

A closer look at the Zvezda figures - very dynamic poses.