Dreadtober painting and playing with oil

I didn't progress as well as I had hoped for in the Dreadtober challenge. I was supposed to be ready with the painting and the base this week but I have been slacking a bit to much. The major colors are there and the bases are somewhat ready but not at the point were I would be happy with it.
The coming week will probably not be that productive, with some upcoming events and work.
A picture of the current status, except bases are almost done.

I also gave oil washes a try, very interesting I have to say. The first guinea pigs were the Tiger family. Next will be the dreadnoughts, hopefully with a good result.

 One of the dreadnought bases also got a treat of oil blending, a pleasant and interesting way of painting I think. There will be more of this in the future.

Gebirgsjägers first platoon

Has been a while since I posted here, usually I just snap photos and put them on Twitter nowadays.
But here goes, a platoon of Gebirgsjägers! Some WIP pictures and a shot of the finished platoon. I'm happy with how they came out.

I really liked these sculpts, very good details. It would have been nice with some more action filled poses though, they are either very relaxed or firing.

Gebirgsjäger research - Helmets and camo

As I want to try to depict my little lead dudes pretty close to history I like to do some research.
When it comes to the Gebirgsjägers, I found them a bit dull and repetetive albeit very nicely sculpted with everyone wearing a field cap.

Most wide spread pictures of Heer-GJ shows them in their Bergmütze, but did they use it in combat too?

Water mill finished

Last night I finished the water mill and it came out OK I think. The bridge is probably what I am the most happy with as it came to life with the washes and a bit of over growth. 
Hauptsturmführer Ernst Braun, my trusty company commander, gladly did some posing in his Panzer III.

US Armored Company

My Shermans and HT transports got some decals, dirt and varnish and can now be added to the archive. I also found a Famo and a few Kubelwagens that needed some dirt and a varnish.

Next up is the dreaded water mill which now has a deadline on the 9th of November, when we are going to play a Market Garden style game.

NW41 Nebelwerfer Battery finished

My new hobby table is in place now so I have finished up my NW41 battery for Flames of War.
It will be a nice addition to my German panzer forces, giving them some means to smoke evil observers and maybe been some infantry. 
The kit is quite nice except for one part, the front stand on the launchers that prevent them from tipping over. This little bugger has a tendency to fall off all the time and I just gave up and put them in some silly putty before the final assembly.
I decided to base them in a rubble setting, which will be theme for my German Totenkopf forces.

Summer is over

My US forces got their armored support ready for battle and I have even gotten two games in with them. The support consist of a M7 Priest battery, Armored Recon and an AA section. There are also five HT transports so I can use my rifle company as a armored rifle platoon.

A little bit of everything

Summertime is here in Sweden, so another reason to not get much done with the little plastic and lead guys.
But some stuff has been happening!

First, of all, to increase my motivation and get some grips on how my hobby projects are progressing, I put them up in a Kanban flow at kanbanflow.com It is a free and easy to use online Kanban board. I don't really use all of the features at the moment, lead times can be scary sometimes.
This is what it looks like for me at the moment:

In the terrain department, I have made the stone etching on the bridge for the water mill and put some black color on it. The mill itself got some windows and a second floor, no stairs or anything and it will probably not be any. Time will tell.

I also ordered a small village (seven houses) from 4ground. Really nice little kits and really easy to build when you get the hang of it. Thumbs up for these guys! Three houses done, four to go.

My US tank company is ready for the table top (for me that is basecolors, a first highlight, gloss varnish and blacklining) and this will let me focus a bit more on the terrain. A shot on the support which was the last part of them, no full army shot yet but that will come up sometime. Maybe when they are all weathered and totally ready.

Finally, I built a new paint stand from some left over wood I had lying around since last summer. I knew they would be useful. Ehm.

A lot better now with a good overview compared to having all the paints in a big box. It has also left me with some more space on the desk, which can't be bad (=more WIP).

Water mill #1

I have been making some sketches for some terrain, one of them has been a water mill to add an interesting river feature. The inside of the house will have two floors with a stair leading up, not sure if I will make any interior features apart from that. 

The bridge got a bit steep but it will have to do I guess, cutting with a knife is quite difficult and this might make me wanna build that foam cutter earlier then what I had planned for.

10000 views and some progress

I hit 10 000 views a little while back, not bad for a limping blog like this.
Thanks, who ever you are. Kind of makes it worth it to know that someone likes to have a look every now and then.

So what have I been up to?  A little bit of everything.
I have worked a little bit on my expanded hill, a few minutes here, a few minutes there. It became a small experiment for a waterfall, just had to try that tube of silicone. The result was not that good, but still fun.

I bought that support that I needed for my American Tank Company, they have been primed and highlighted. Excuse the bad photo, the highlights are not that strong in real light. And those Gebirgsjägers? I just couldn't help myself and got a company with some leIg18s and PAK38s. I wonder what year they will get out of their boxes?

Then I stumpled upon a thread on the Flames of War forum about trees (link to the post), and I just had to try it myself. Very easy, just some sisal thread, steel wire, flock, paint and glue. Voila, nice trees. But a note, use a glove if you are going to hold them and use spray glue. My left thumb is now also flocked, a feature maybe.

A side thing that has happened is that a "fellow" war gamer passed away, Mike Norman. I enjoyed his blog and posts in the BF forum. Sucks to see someone go earlier then they should. RIP Mike.

Some German Hardware

These little beauties have been sitting around way too long and I would like to have them finishes soon. They need some washes, scratching and decals before they can hit the dance floor.
Nebelwerfers are some of the cooler artillery pieces from WW2 in my opinion, I really like the look with the tubes and the stories about the scary sounds when they fired. More Minnies for the people!

Winterschlacht-13

This was our first Total War battle for Flames of War at the club and it was a an exciting game.

We started planning the game back in October, to inspire everyone to get ready and paint up their forces.

Due to some illness, the game had to be moved so it actually took place in 2014 instead of 2013 but who cares?

The Forces

We were running 5000 points per side, with the players on each deciding if the wanted to push points from one company to the other.

Panther G platoon #1

The four Panther Gs are now ready for the table-top, all base colors in place and varnished to withstand the battlefield. A bit shiny in the photo from the gloss varnish but that will change when they have been highlighted and weathered.
I'm happy with how they came out and it was really fun to paint them up. 

The inspiration for the pattern are these pictures:

Let's hope they will do some good on the table this coming Sunday, facing the great, green horde of Soviet armor!

Panther G teaser

A quick post just to show what the camo will be looking like.

It is not a pattern used by Totenkopf and it is not 100% accurate (the yellow/brown stripes are a bit to big) but I like how it came out. 
With just a week left before our Total War game, I'm just aiming to have all four Panthers base colored and varnished. Everything else is a bonus.

Picking up the brush

After a nice holiday in New Zealand, visiting my sister and her family, I have finally gotten back to some painting. This autumn have been too much video games, so now I have un-installed them and decided to focus my spare time on the miniatures.

Currently on the table: Four Panther G, a Nebelwerfer platoon and the final touches on the Panzer IV platoons. There are also some Kübelwagens sitting around but they are not that important at the moment.

I started working on a two piece extension for my modular hills, about half a meter in length. It was in the shed outside and at this time of year drying times are not that good. Guess it will have to sit inside for a few days before I continue with it.

Terrain tests

Since I finished the gaming table I have tried to build some terrain but it has been going pretty slow. I think I need deadlines for my miniatures to really get me going, like the upcoming Total War event at the local gaming club that I am helping to arrange. This will require a bit more of terrain and tanks.

Some of the terrain tests I have been doing just to try out techniques and materials:
Simple fences (tongue depressors, tooth picks and coffee stirrers)

Operation: Overlord - Saint-Lô - Final fight

Taking up their final stand around the church in Saint-Lô, the Fallschirmjägers will fight until the bitter end.

The lists are like before:
1st ID: 
Compulsory Rifle Company HQ - 1x CinC Carbine, 1x 2iC Carbine
- Bazooka - 2x Bazooka

Compulsory Rifle Platoon - 1x Command Rifle, 1x Bazooka, 9x Rifle
Compulsory Rifle Platoon - 1x Command Rifle, 1x Bazooka, 9x Rifle

Mortar Platoon - 1x Command Carbine, 4x M1 81mm Mortar
- Bazookas - 2x Bazooka
Independent Tank Platoon - 1x Command M4 or M4A1 Sherman, 2x M4 or M4A1 Sherman
Field Artillery Battery - 1x Command Carbine, 1x Staff, 1x Observer Carbine, 4x M2A1 105mm Howitzer

995 Points, 5 Platoons

6th FJ:
Compulsory Fallschirmjager Company HQ - 1x CinC SMG, 1x 2iC SMG

Compulsory Fallschirmjager Platoon - 1x Command Rifle/MG, 9x Rifle/MG
Compulsory Fallschirmjager Platoon - 1x Command Rifle/MG, 9x Rifle/MG

Fallschirmjager Machine-gun Platoon - 1x Command SMG, 4x MG42 HMG 
Grenadier Assault Gun Platoon - 1x Command StuG G, 1x StuG G
Luftwaffe Anti-Aircraft Assault Platoon - 1x Command SMG, 2x 8.8cm FlaK36 gun
- Extra Crew - 2x Extra Crew

995 Points, 5 Platoons

Added some more houses to the table, turning it into a smaller city.

In the cover of the houses, the Americans manage to push up towards the church, with a lucky ToT from the 105s one FJ platoon is almost wiped out and leaves the table. Not having the full force on the table from the start and a better route with more cover for the Americans in this last battle, made them move quicker over the table without suffering any casualties. The last FJ platoon made a good last stand in the church but it was not enough to win the game. No platoons wiped out on the American side, 6-1 victory. Hopefully enough for the Allies to win the Overlord-campaign.

Operation: Overlord - Saint-Lô - US Rifle vs retreating Fallschirmjägers

Even though the Fallschirmjaegers repelled the attack from the Americans, they will not be able to hold on for much longer and plan for a withdrawal to improve the defenses in other sectors.

Operation: Overlord - Saint-Lô - German FJ vs US Rifle

Finally, the goal for the operation is in sight: Saint-Lô!
The church tower making for the skies in the distance with the rest of the city spreading out around it. The Big Red One has taken up positions outside the city and are making ready to go in to take a foot hold in the outskirts.

One objective is placed near a small square on the US right flank and another behind a house on the left. The Germans deploy one FJ platoon and two 88s in ambush, leaving the Americans to guess where to attack. In reserves are two Stugs and another FJ platoon. Both FJ platoons get two HMGs attached to them.
On the American side, the commander let a battery of 105s dig in, put a the first rifle platoon on the left flank and the second on the right and a tank platoon of three Shermans in the middle. A support platoon of four 81mm mortars find a nice spot behind a small hill to assist the grunts with some smoke, they dig in just like the 105s.

Operation: Overlord - Tank engagement

After the Allies having made a great inland from the landing zones a small force of British Churchills find them self face to face with two platoons of Panzer IVs on the fields outside Conteville.

The area has a few smaller hills, a couple of fields and a three way cross road with two ends on the German side and one end on the British side. At the intersection are two smaller houses.

After making contact the two forces slow down and spread out with a platoon of tanks on each flank, the Germans having their stronger five tank platoon on their left and a weaker three tank platoon on the right. To avoid getting flanked, the British put a tank platoon on each side and the commanders in the middle, protecting the 25 pounders at the start.
With their weaker armor but better training, the Germans decide to hold off and try to pick off some targets before moving on. The plan might have been sound but the execution did not go so well, the right hand platoon is quickly decimated by the determined British tankers. Two Panzers are destroyed while only one Churchill is set aflame.
On the left flank the Germans hang on and manage to survive through an air strike a few rounds of artillery bombardment but are forced to pull back when the company commander is struck and catches fire. With only one tank lost the British score a great victory and gains even more ground.