Warhammer 40k painting update

Well I have been working on a bunch of Warhammer 40k projects lately.

First I had purchased a bunch of Ork boys from a guy on Craigslist a few years ago. He had painted them in Bad Moon colors and The yellow did not just do it for me. So I have been doing a quick repainted on them.

I got some Raptors for my birthday last year that I finally put together As well. They are sweet models! I had a lot of fun putting them together and I sure they will help my Night Lords force out soon. So far I have only primed them in preparation to use some badger ghost tint on them.

And lastly my favorite project I am working on. Space Wolf Terminators converted to serve the Fickle Foursome!! The misses loves Chaos figs and she has a nice sized Fantasy army. I used some of the bits to convert these guys. I am going to call the “Shadow Hounds”. Fallen Space Wolves that have joined the Night Lords!

http://youtu.be/6ugxf75hkGo

15mm Stug III

Here are some more 15mm WWII Germans I finished this week.   I did up a platoon of Stug IIIs from Plastic Soldier Company.  I also assembled one as a StuH42.  

I think they came out a little darker than I had hoped.  I uses a black oil wash on them to help pick some details instead of my normal pin wash technique.

 

 

15mm German SS Panzer Grenadiers

It has been way to long since I posted on here.  I have some more 15mm WWII projects to show off.  Most recent is a platoon of SS Panzer Grenadiers.  I used a splinter camo pattern on their ponchos and helmet covers.  Maybe not very frequently seen in ’43 on the Eastern Front but I still think it looks cool.

Battlegroup Kursk Highground Scenario

 

The Old Man and I got in another game of Battlegroup Kursk.  We played the high ground scenario out the Kursk book.  I played the mighty German Panzer Corps, while the Old Man took a stalwart Soviet Infantry Regiment.  I took a Tiger, an Armred Infantry Platoon, a platoon of Panzer IVs, and a platoon of Panzer IIIs. The Old Man took 2 infantry platoons with antitank rifles, maxims, and some wimpy 45mm AT guns.  He also had a platoon of T34s, 2 KV-1s and a brace of crash booms (Zis3 76mm antitank guns).  We took some other fun stuff like some off board mortars,  air strikes, a counter bombardment and some other odds and ends.

 

i will say that the Tiger is a awesome tank.  I literally drove it down the middle of the battlefield and it took all kinds of fire and never stopped.  It even survived a mine strike!  I used it mostly to pin down the crash booms and draw fire away from the Panzer IIIs & IVs.  I put my platoon lieutenant on a hill to call in mortar fire and in two barrages and lucky dice rolls had managed to kia both crash booms.  The old was not without some good moves of his own.  He charged a T34 down one flank and managed to KIA a Panzer IV holding the flank.  We had a impressive beyond the call of duty (basically units get free moves in their opponents turn by rolling some good morale tests) duel between a maxim team and a MG42 team.  We had 2 successful beyond the call of duty rolls each!  The MG42 ended up winning the duel. 

At the end of the game the Old Man had pulled almost double the number of morale chips that I did due his infantry being chewed up and losing his AT Guns and a couple of T34s.  He lasted much longer in the as he pulled 5 special event chips during the game.  The Tiger although menacing only managed to machine gun a 45mm antitank gun crew and pin a KV1. One the other hand a lonely PzKpfw III knocked out 2 T34s and pinned down a squads of Russian infantry!  A requisition for the Iron Cross was then promptly ordered. . . 🙂

15mm German Tigers Panzer VI

Well the latest 15mm project is done!  Here are some pics of 15mm German Tigers by Plastic Soldier Company.  I had a great time painting these up.  I really like all the commander options and little extra parts that come in the kit.

About the only issue I am still having is with decals.  Some of them are still a little frosty once they dry and get a coat of varnish on top of them . . .  I will have to try out some new techniques to fix that.

I managed to finish these up just in time for the Old Man to pay me a visit.  We played a game of Battlegroup Kursk on Saturday. It is quickly becoming my favorite tabletop game.  Enjoy the pics!

15mm Tiger

15mm German Schwimmwagen Tank Hunters

I have been working on and off on some 15mm German figures for Battlegroup Kursk.  I recently finished up these SS Tank Hunters mounted up in Schwimmwagons.  I know that panzerfausts and the like were not out in ’43 but I also figured I could use these in Overlord at sometime in the future as well.

I also did some MG 42 teams because. . . well they are MG42s!!!!

Warhammer 40k Terrain: Makeshift Bunkers

Well I busted out my bits box and built these makeshift bunkers for 40k. I used a ton of old bit and lots of chopped up foam board.

Battlegroup Kursk: 15mm T70s and KV2

Here are some shots of the newly finished 15mm T70s from Plastic Solider Company and a KV-2 from Zvezda.

Battlegroup Kursk – Bridgehead Battle

Well I finally got in a complete game of Battlegroup Kursk and by am I happy.  Over the 4th of July weekend I mad a trip to the Old Man’s house and packed all my 15mm Battlegroup figures.  Most of the vehicles I have are Plastic Solider Company with a few Axis & Allies miniatures mixed in.  All of my infantry is Battlefront / Flames of War.

 

I decided to base all of the infantry to make up squads and platoons easier to move across the board.   A full strength Soviet Rifle Platoon consists of 35 guys.  That would take forever to move them across the battlefield!  So I mounted them in squads.  As you can see from some of the pics below I used red craft rubber bands to mark casualties.  I think it worked rather well!

 

So we played a 400 point game using the Bridgehead scenario.  I played the Germans in the form of a Panzer Group and the Old Man played a Soviet Tank Corps group.

The German forces consisted of:

1 Hauptmann

1 Grenadier Platoon (Leutnant, command squad, 3 sqauds, 3 MG 34 Teams, 1 light mortar team)

3 Panzer IVs

2 Marder IIIMs

1 Brummbar

1 2nd Propriety Artillery Request

 

Soviet forces consisted of:

1 Captain

1 Rifle Platoon (Lieutenant, 4 squards, Maxim MG Team mounted in Trucks)

3 Tank Rider Squads (SMG Squads)

5 T-34/76s

1 SU-122

 

The game started out slow as we had to look up a lot of rules as a we went.

 

The Soviet and German infantry both struck hard at the objective barn/farm on the hill in the German left flank. The Germans got to the farm first and set up 2 squads and MG34 teams in and around the barn.  In typical Soviet fashion they charged!  The first squad of Russians was swept away in a blaze of lead but more kept coming!  Soviet firepower and support from an SU122, and T34 late in the game ended up killed 2 MG34 Teams and a Grenadier squad.  They took loses as however in the form of the T34 and 2 squads.  The kicker here was the German ability to continuously keep the Soviet infantry pinned with successful area fire.  The Old Man, in an attempt to keep the pressure on, kept drawing battle chits to keep his forces fighting.  This lead up to him taking additional moral loss even though he did not lose that many units. The SU122 left to try and destroy some German armor and left the Russian infantry to fend for itself. By the end of the game neither side had claimed the objective.

 

The T34s came in all over the place and rushed toward the river to confront the German armor while the SU122 struck toward the farm to support the infantry.  The Panzer IVs slowly came onto the battlefield and set up a base of fire around the bridge stretching the river. Marder IIIMs came up a small hill to help support the Panzer IVs.  A fierce tank battle commenced!  The Germans stuck first by destroying a T34 on the right flank.  The most best action sequence of the of the game took place on the German right flank.  A T34 was hit by a Marder IIIM made a Beyond the call of Duty move (Allows an extra turn out of sequence and in turn destroyed the Marder. A Panzer IV shot at the same T34 only to glance off its armor resulting in another successful beyond the call of duty roll!  The greatly inspired (or drunk) T34 crew shot and destroyed the Panzer IV.  One of the Panzer IV’s suffered a breakdown and was later abandoned after being hit several times from T34 fire.  The Brummbar finally showed up and moved across the bridge toward the barn battle going on the left flank.  The Soviet armor fired upon the Brummbat multiple times but never managed to pierce its thick hull.  75mm guns of the Panzer IV’s finally claimed another T34 and the SU122. The destruction of the SU122 forced a chit pull which broke the Soviet forces.

Other highlights included a 105mm German arty barrage pinning two Russian SMG squads and routing a rifle squad. The Old Man had a few horrible order rolls and his Soviet horde barely made any progress upon the battlefield.  Both sides suffered some confusion from chit pulls but that did not lead to anything significant.

We made missed a few rules but all in all it was a great game.  I currently am finishing up some T70s to help add to Russian forces.

 

 

Campaign Battle 2: Eldar Counter Attack

Campaign Game number 2 has been rolled up an played!  We rolled the Cleanse Scenario which means the only thing that counts is killing stuff!

So the Chaos army took a bit different army this time around. Plague Marines and Havocs made the list again in addition to some normal choices likes regular CSM and Cultists.  The new additions included a unit of Khorne Berzerkers, a decked out Predator, Chaos Spawn, and some Chosen in a Rhino. The only HQ choice taken was a Lord

The Eldar took a drastically different army comprised mostly of Pathfinders.  The Eldar did have a big squad of Dire Avengers led by Prince Yuriel mounted in a GravTank and Ilrik the Sniper of Doom.  The Eldar force was rounded out with some Warp Spiders, a few Guardian Heavy Weapon platforms, and a Wraithlord.

 

 

 

 

Here is the initial setup of the Chaos forces.

Turn 1:

Eldar went 1st and the Pathfinders in the forward ruins shot at the Havocs only to cause a single casualty. The remaining Havocs and the Predator responded to pound the ruins with fire.  Poor cover saves resulted in 3 dead Pathfinders.

Turn 2:

The Warp Spiders arrive, although a little out of position in the deep Chaos left flank.  The Pathfinders try to snipe the Chaos Lord but fail to cause any wounds.  The Wraithlord fires and manages to KIA a Chaos Spawn. Yuriel and his DIre Avenger routine unload to help support the Pathfinders. The Chaos firepower from the Havocs and Predator manage to kill 2 more Pathfinders that moved up the woods in the center.  Chosen move in close to the ruins to set up for a charge. The Chaos Spawn manage to make it into close combat with the Pathfinders in the woods.  They eat 3 but manage to miss the last one who flees.

 

 

 

Prince Yuriel rolls up to support some of the Pathfinders in a forward position.

 

Turn 3:

 

More Pathfinders show up the forward ruins from reserve.  The Dire Avengers, Yuriel, and the Pathfinders manage to take down 4 Chosen but they pass their morale test.  The Warp spiders unleash spinny death at the cultists holding down the left flank.  The Warp Spiders then charge in to finish the job and cause the Cultists to break.  The Warp Spiders catch and destroy them!  2 victory points to the Eldar! 1 for the destroyed unit and 1 for 1st Blood.

Chaos responds by turning the advancing Khorne Berzerkers around to finish off the Warp Spiders with bolt pistol fire.  The Chosen Rhino chases down the Pathfinder fleeing from the Spawn and gets a Havoc Rocket delivered in its lap.  The Chosen get into close combat with the Pathfinders in the ruins, win the combat but fail to break them.  Chaos picks up 2 victory points.

 

Warp Spiders appear and shred/liquefy a unit of Cultists.

Turn 4:

Prince Yuriel turns his attention to the Choas center and charges in the Chaos Marnies and their Lord.  The Wraithlord joins in on the melee!  Eldar shooting does soften up the CSM squad with the Lord but does not do much else. The assault phase however, leads to more dead Traitor Marines.  Yuriel accepts the challenge form the Chaos Lord.  Yuriel cuts down the Lord with ease!  2 more victory points to the Eldar.  The Dire Avengers and Wraithlord finish off the rest of the Marines.  1 more victory point to the Eldar.  The Pathfinders in the Ruins and the Chosen battle some more and the Pathfinders loose 2 more but stay in the fight.

Chaos turn all its firepower on the Dire Avenger squad with Prince Yuriel with the exception of the Plague Marines who move into charge range of the Wraithlord.  Yuriels unit gets beat up and kill 3 Dire Avengers and manage to wound Yuriel twice.  Meanwhile the Plague Marines charge the Wraithlord while the Spawn charge in to melee between the Pathefinders and Chosen.  The Plague Marines manage to wound the Wraithlord 7 times thanks to poison attack of their plague knives.  The Wraithlord fails its saves and drops and awards a victory point.  The Spawn and Chosen finish off some Pathfinders and Ilik the Hunter for 2 more victory points.The game is tied at 5.

 

 

 

The Chosen are Flanked!

Turn 5:

The Eldar manage to damage and immobilize the Rhino with some good shots from the GravTank and the last group of Pathfinders.  Mortars kills a few Khorne Berzerkers.  Yuriel decides to grab his last 2 Dire Avengers and hop into the Wave Serpent.

The Chaos Chosen and Spawn get into combat with the last Pathfinder unit in the ruins and kill all of them for another victory point.

Turn 5 ends and we roll to see if we play another turn.  Die comes a 1!!!  Game Over!  Chaos comes back to win 6 to 5.

 

Conclusions:

 

Poor John had some of the worst die rolls ever!  He rolled nothing but 1’s all day when rolling cover saves and his Pathfinders could not roll a 6 to get a rending hit almost all game.  The VPs made the game feel a lot closer than it did playing.  The Eldar pack a huge punch but need to duck and weave with their fleet ability to avoid getting hit.  The Chaos Spawn were in my opinion the MVPs of the game.  They took out 3 squads of Pathfinders and Ilik with a little help from the Chosen.  Not bad for a bunch of snaggletooth mutants!