Cavemen

Here are two blisters of Reaper Miniatures Cavemen. These are really nice models with a lot of character.  Click for a larger picture.

These figures have a lot of utility. They can be used in nearly any genre to serve as any type of primitive humanoid. I'm not sure what I'll do with these yet, but I can see a few applications. In fact, some prehistoric games might be a nice change of pace. I've had my eye on some of those very nice prehistoric models at Acheson Creations. Maybe it's time for a mastodon hunt!

You can readily see the contents of the blister, as I've got two of every model represented except the female. I wasn't too big of a fan of some of the workmanship shown on the handle of her staff/club thing. It takes away from the primitive feeling of it. Also, since she's so distinctive I only painted one of her. I guess I could convert the extra model's staff and "magic bag" into something else. Not sure it's worth the effort at this point.

So now I'm thinking of expanding my cavemen collection. Copplestone Castings has some nice cavemen as part of their Lost Worlds range that are worth looking at, and I may have to get them now that I've got this idea in my head. Stay tuned!

20mm PSC German Heavy Weapons

Got to work this week on the massive pile of 20mm Plastic Soldier Company boxes that are clogging my hobby room. I knocked out a box of the German heavy weapons models. I didn't put together every model in the box.  Here's what I've got.

Click the picture for a bigger view.

There were models in this box that I couldn't imagine I'd ever need to have in multiples. Specifically that'd be the 80mm and 120mm mortars. Realistically those sized mortars would be far behind the troops and not on board. Still, Bolt Action puts everything on the table whether it make sense or not (they need to sell models, after all) and I could use them as objective pieces, etc. I just didn't want to make three of each in one sitting.

The models are excellent quality and I have few complaints. My only real gripe is that they give you six panzerschreks, but only enough models to build three teams. Since I didn't plan to build all six panzerschreks nor all mortar teams, I stole a figure from the mortars to fill out my team. 

I liked having the panzerfausts and wished there were a few more in the box. Six is a good start but a platoon could potentially have more than just six. At least with a disposable weapon like this you don't necessarily have to show which models have them. These guys came with a good amount of gear. I've no clue if it's historically accurate, but it looks good on these models and fits in with their other infantry figures.

The main thing I wanted out of this set was the MG42 teams. A German army can't have too many of these teams, and again my only complaint is I'd have loved to have more than three. These models look great. A little pose variety would've been nice.

Lastly there were the mortar teams. You already know my thoughts on my need for them. As far as the models go, they are excellent. I'll say the mortar model itself was nicely done and sturdy. So many of these mortars in other sets just lean together and need a gallon of glue to stay in place. These PSC mortars, however, were fitted together cleanly.

So that wraps up German heavy weapons. Now I will jump over to do the US heavy weapons teams before tackling all the vehicles. This turned out to be a far larger project than I was expecting. Still, when it's done I'll have a couple of nice looking platoons with plenty of options.

Relic Knights Kickstarter

Nearly two years after my I confirmed my pledge, Relic Knights Kickstarter has arrived! It came yesterday but I didn't have time to look through the contents of the box until this morning. It has been so long I nearly forgot what I chose.

Click for a larger picture.

This picture shows two starter factions with a bonus choice each, hardback rulebook, tokens, card deck (the game is card-driven; no dice involved), various scenic bases of different sizes, an autographed litho, and a couple of other things I don't yet understand.

The two factions I selected were Cerci Speed Circuit (think anime boobs) and The Noh Empire (think anime demons). I mostly based my choices on the looks of the models. I've no idea how these will play in the game.

This Kickstarter experience has left me with a few questions. As far as the execution of it, I have few complaints. Really it just took twice as long to get my stuff, but that's it. Cool Mini Or Not sent me everything I selected and throughout the delays they sent constant updates on progress. In fact one of the highlights of getting this KS package is I will no longer get email updates.

My real hesitation is that this KS represents my gaming interests from nearly two years ago. I've moved on and am hardly playing minis games anymore. I'm doing mostly boardgames and Magic the Gathering as far as my weekly gaming goes. I do have some miniatures stuff going on, mostly with my Reaper stuff and Bolt Action / WW2 projects. I don't know how much I really want out of Relic Knights at this point. At the time, I thought I'd be playing this 5-6 times a year and would like having the models to paint. Now, it might get to the table at some point, and I'll still paint the models. But I've got so much else in front of it.

So that's my experience with Kickstarter. The delay between "buying" and receiving the items creates the risk that I might move on in my interests by the time I get my stuff. That has been the case with Relic Knights. Still, I think CMON did a great job with this and provided excellent communication throughout, and from that perspective I am satisfied with the experience.

1/72 Scale PSC US Infantry

I completed a platoon of Plastic Soldier Company's Late War US Infantry in 1/72 scale. These models took a little longer than I expected. The paint job came out fine, but these pictures are not the best. My camera is out of batteries so I had to use my iPhone. Since I haven't updated for a while, I decided to post these okay pictures and take better ones later.

I was not as impressed with this box of PSC models as I was with the Germans. The box of US Infantry is stuffed with a series of bad model choices, and I had to buy a second box just to get enough rifles to make a platoon with HQ. That's a rip off compared to the German box.

The US box gives you two poses of six models with SMGs, and one has a walkie talkie radio. I chose to make the radio guy my LT, which means all three NCOs for my squads have identical kneeling poses. That's not too bad, but then you come to the BAR models. You are given twelve BAR models per box. That's just way too many, even for a late war platoon. Then the model choices get even more questionable. You have one unarmed soldier that might be holding a grenade, or might be trying to hold his pee. I can't tell. What good are three weaponless soldiers? Then you get three medics, and 3 two-man radio teams. Overkill. Polish all that off with three casualties.

Why did they fill this box with so much of this extra crap, including six models that are either dead or weaponless? You end up short of actual rifles and therefore must buy another box. It's cheap enough, but I shouldn't need a second box not with all the extra BAR gunners, radio teams, and guys with full bladders. There was space to put the rifles in one box.

Some of the poses are a little strange, but for the most part they're good with lots of firing poses. I didn't realize I had medics until I saw the cross stamped on their helmets. Since they have no bags they only have that one roll of bandages. At first, I thought they were binoculars. Otherwise, the weapons and all the other stuff look great. There are several marksman models with scopes, too. A nice touch for US squads. I know their suspenders are wrong, but I don't care.

One other complaint I had was that these models did not fit together as nicely as the Germans. There are a lot of gaps in these models where the arms join. Also, the flash and mold lines were pretty severe, and I had to choose between leaving the mold lines or filing away details, particularly on the faces and helmets.

So I wasn't as satisfied with these, but it's all done now. I really don't need more. I'll be adding support units like MGs and AT weapons to both US and German platoons. After that, I get to move onto the vehicles.

Reaper Bones and Warlord Thoughts

I took a short break in the 20mm WW2 project to paint more from my pile of Reaper Bones. No matter how much I pull out of that box, it is still full. I'll be getting another box just like it this Fall too! Anyway, I rummaged around for some Elves and here's what I found.

I just felt like painting bright and colorful, so High Elvish heroes fit that bill. I got hold of a pot of GW's specialty paint for creating a patina on metal, and you can see it on the Elf King's shield. It worked out nice, though it needs to be applied with some thought. I sloshed it on, which was okay but not as good as it could be. I imagined he's carrying some ancient, magic shield. It was a great excuse not to paint the detailed peacock.

What I didn't realize at the time was the two females are Warlord hero models. I have been giving a lot of thought to trying that game, particularly because I love the figures. I've also heard second edition was a huge improvement over first. As I dug into it, I realized not only do I have a ton of Warlord models in my collection, I actually have a complete Black Orc faction fully painted and ready to go!

Without realizing, I also have a functional Necropolis army (undead) that only needs a few more models to reach the recommended 1,000 point game size. I have almost all of it in Bones, too, or in metals that I painted for Song of Blades and Heroes a while ago.

The only challenge is I have a mix of square and round bases. I don't think it will make too much of a difference, really. Visually it looks a bit weird. I'll live with it.

I found the beta test rules and walked through them. The game is pretty solid, though there's some strangeness in the way troops are organized and activate. I really liked it and ordered both books (2nd Ed rules and Savage North expansion). I will also start building toward some other factions. It fills that niche LotR SBG vacated when it got screwy new books that jacked up the game. In fact, this has a higher fantasy feeling than LotR, which I love.

For now it's back to building my 20mm WW2 Americans. However, expect more Reaper Bones and Warlord updates interspersed.

1/72 Scale PSC German Infantry

I have long given thought to 1/72 scale (20mm) for World War II gaming, but always put it aside as impractical. It seems to be an exclusively British thing with little to no support for that scale in the US. Only kits sold in model stores were easily available, and those are intended for dioramas. However, now with the wide availability of Plastic Soldier Company's 1/72 scale models things have changed.

I haven't played any games in this scale yet, but I think 20mm will prove to be a great scale. The proportions on 20mm models look far more natural than either 15mm or 28mm. While I've collected a good amount of 15mm models I oftentimes have difficulty seeing the weapons on the models in that scale. I like 28mm well enough, but platoon sized games look crowded at 28mm and the models all look too chunky.  Nothing inherently wrong with either scale, but I wanted something that is easy to see and handle, be compact in storage and on the table, but also retain realistic proportions. The 20mm scale seemed to fit the bill.

Here's the contents of the PSC late war German infantry, all painted and ready to go. Click for a larger picture.

I really liked these models, though I'm not a fan of having to assemble them. Nothing was too difficult, though, and they fit together nicely. You get enough to make three 10 man rifle squads with MG team and SMG toting NCO. You get three radiomen and three medics, which is a little much. At least the radiomen can be used as forward observers and spotters. The two extra medics are a waste.

My only complaint is that you get too many SMGs, at least for how I want to construct my squads. I guess if you put in two SMGs per squad you could potentially get four total squads from one box. If you don't want to do that, then you'll end up like me with a bunch of extras. I'm sure they'll get used somewhere.

I did cheat a bit with this platoon. I ran across some Zveda 1/72 scale Germans on clearance at the local hobby store. I switched out the two extra medics and added in a senior officer using his field glasses and a different officer type, which I'll probably use for my LT.  Here's a picture of how the two Zveda models scale with the PSC. A pretty good match, I say.

I'll probably build the rest of the Zveda models, though they have some strange poses and the MG team is carrying a weapon that looks more like a broomstick than an MG.

Here's a look at the radioman and medic models.

Finally, you get six MG teams in the box which I think is awesome. Three are carrying their weapon while three teams are deployed. Here's a sample of both.

As you can tell from these pictures, many of the Germans had helmet covers modeled. I liked that touch but I'm not sure if I got the camo exactly right for them. Well, it looks suitably "WW2" for my taste. Also the box came with numerous head swaps, including several bandaged heads for walking wounded types. That was a nice touch, though I only made one swap just to see how it came out.

There's a lot more 1/72 scale WW2 coming up. I got just about everything for PSC US and Germans in this scale. I'll be working on Americans next, but will take a break with some Reaper models in between.

15mm WW2: Russian Armor

This week I was able to finish off my complete Russian army in 15mm for Operation Bagration. Last week I managed to get the rifle platoon and support weapons completed, and this week was for all the armor I needed. Totally I have ten vehicles for the army. Here they are all together.

The single color scheme made them a breeze to paint. The longest delay I had was assembling the Plastic Soldier Company's T34 models, which took a few sessions to do.  The Battlefront models were easy and fairly idiot-proof, which is so necessary for me.

I painted them all with PSC's spray paints, this color being the aptly named "Russian Armor" color. The PSC models took the paint wonderfully and only needed a thin coating to look good. The Battlefront models look just as fine, but needed a bit more paint to cover.

Starting at the front and working back, here's what you're looking at.

This is a Battlefront IS-2. I only need one for my purposes. There is supposed to be an MG mounted on it, but I couldn't figure out where and expected the flimsy thing would just break off anyway. So I left it off.

Here is the bulk of the armor, T34/76 & 85 from Plastic Soldier Company. These tanks were a bitch to assemble (for me, real modellers don't struggle with them) and I screwed up all of them in one way or another. Oh well. These were a Christmas gift last year from my son, and I'm glad to have finally assembled them.

In the picture above the front two are 85s and the rear three are 76s. I built turrets for both, so I can interchange them as needed. That's a cool feature of these PSC kits.

Here are two SU-76M self-propelled guns from Battlefront. These fit together nicely, thought it took me a minute to understand what the bent bits were. They turned out to be the railing pieces at the back of the vehicle.

Bringing up the rear are two SU-85 tank destroyers. These were by far the easiest to assemble, with only the gas tanks needing any sort of care which is mostly just not gluing them to your fingers.

After I assembled and spray painted them, I gave them a brown wash and some minor weathering. Finally I added the PSC decals I bought for this project. I like their decal sheets, but they hardly provide enough stars for what they charge.

As an afterthought, I do have one last unit to add to this force. I need a 45mm AT gun team. I've ordered a blister and will put together two of them to honestly and truly finish these Russians. Now all I have to do is play the campaign!