15mm WW2: More Marines

Another slow week at the painting table has passed. I finished several support units for my US Marines, four bazooka teams, two flamethrowers, and three .30cal water cooled MGs.  Here's the whole lot of them.

Click for a larger picture with more details.

Not much to write home about here. I realized I didn't order my mortars, so they're on the way.  These are all Peter Pig models. They don't scale so well with my Command Decision models, but nothing so bad that it becomes distracting.

Bazookas and flamethrowers need something to assault, so I painted my MG bunkers from Battlefront.

Nothing too spectacular here. I didn't really know how to weather the concrete, so I just left them with a fairly crisp paint job.  After they were done, I realized that these terrain pieces are quite small even for 15mm.

Here's a comparison with a Peter Pig model, which is a lot smaller than Battlefront's models.  The marine is out of focus, but you cans see the scale.  He looks passable outside the log bunker.

He starts to look a little small in front of the concrete bunker.

But if you flip the bunker around to see the door, the marine looks like a giant!

So what was Battlefront thinking when they designed these pieces?  That door is not big enough for a 15mm model's foot, never mind an MG team.  It looks more like a 6mm scale.

I won't let that prevent me from using the bunkers, but it was really disappointing when I found how small these bunkers actually are.  That kind of scale discrepancy throws me out of the game, but only when I pay attention to it.  I'll just have to not look too carefully, and I do have other terrain pieces that aren't really to scale.  It's all just meant to be a representation, anyway.

That's all for WW2 right now, though I'll be quickly returning to it. In the meantime, I'll be working on some Malifaux figures, and likely gluing my fingers together in the process.

15mm WW2: Japanese Reinforcements

Quick update today on my 15mm WW2 project. I'm gearing up to start my next campaign, which will take place in the Pacific. Specifically, I'm building forces to match the needed figures for Britton Publishing's excellent campaign book, Operation Stalemate II. This is the 1st Marine Division's battle for Peleliu in 1944. I'm looking forward to it.

So, here's what I've got done this week.

Working left to right: eight knee mortars; the standing guys look like they've got leaf blowers instead of mortars to me. Next are three suicide bombers. They've got explosives strapped on their back and have a detonator in their hands, sad and gruesome models. I painted up three flamethrowers, though they aren't needed for the scenarios. Behind the flamethrowers are two models with antitank bombs on poles.  Finally, there are three heavy machine gun teams.

These are all Peter Pig models. I used Command Decision models for my main force, and these Peter Pig models are really small in comparison. The Command Decision models are significantly larger and don't mix so well.  In any case, these are specialists and not included in every scenario, so it's no matter.

To complete my Japanese I need some AT and infantry guns along with some light tanks. The tanks are proving hard to come by, even though Battlefront makes them. These tank models don't seem to be in stock anywhere.

On to the US Marines next!