US infantry (winter war) #4

It's winter here (or rather: supposed to be) so it seems to be good idea to paint some more infantrymen for my Bolt Action winter themed force. Especially there's XXIX edition of painting contest on strategie.net forum running, which always works motivating. After dealing with Slaanesh force for Warhammer Fantasy painting some olive green was just breath of fresh air. Plus it's good warm up before painting ordinary G.I.s.

The proper entry for the contest is plastic infantry I got at the beginning of the year. For a long time I prefered metal models over plastics, but Warlord did really great job on this set. I especially like faces which are way better sculpted then faces of most Bolt Action models I have. But last year I also got US headquarters set on Road to Berlin 2025 which is supposed to command winter Bastogne offensive and which you can see below.

Painting scheme is well tested color combo backed with Citadel artifical snow. That white goo makes great contrast to olive and green and therefore infantry looks just more interesting on battlefield. I added magnets to all freshly painted models from Bolt Action range to makes transporting models easier and safer - it's the tip I spotted on Road to Berlin events - definitely recommended!

The HQ set contains officer, medic and forward observer. There's always something to do for additional NCO so there's never enough of them. Medic on the other hand has never paid off during the game but since I painted one quite a long time ago - now I can field a team. Not mentioning the fact model with stretches looks just so cool! Dude with radio is the observer - not sure I am brave enough to call an airstrike on the battlefield, but it can surely work also as an artillery spotter - indirect weapons are always good choice.  The one with white helmet is old spotter from Black Tree Designs range but with head swapped for plastic. It's the third time I am painting this specific model and help me Satan - the last one.

Right - time to start painting some cannon fodder for Battle of the Bulge campaign... 🫡  

As you can see spotter brought dark grimoire instead of military maps:

...which allowed the team to beat gravity!

Necromunda Cawdor juve

I am actually working on some more winter infantry for Bolt Action, but while lining up models for painting - single Cawdor gang juve from oldie Necromunda line appeared, so couldn't resist working on that one first. That brings memories: back days we used to play long Necromunda campaigns on regular basis. During time we were hyped by the game I've managed to collect several gangs - among them Cawdor. 

I've always like those religious freaks, especially after I saw Cawdor gang as Golden Daemon contest entry in WD#218. Despite that I've never managed to paint a single model from that line - until now. No idea why really: each and every mini was unique (just like in other gangs), so painting never gets boring. 

But better late then never after all. Working on this dude was pure pleasure - so much I am actually considering digging out another unpainted gang, so it finally gets proper colors. And because it's kinda special piece I decided to refresh tradition of sending souvenirs - hope it arrives safe and recipient likes it ☺️

In the grim darkness of the far future there are only land mines made of PzKpfw V wheels...

Unknown episode of WW2

Last weekend I had a pleasure to re-enact one of unknown episodes of World War 2:
deadly struggle of my trusty (winter) Americans against Rilian's supercool (desert) Italians...

The idea to face our armies was spawned quite a long time ago actually, but sadly until now we couldn't synchronize the calendars to make thing happen. 

War is mostly logistics after all... 🙄

Since we decided to sactifice whole evening for the match decision was made to prepare larger then standard armies: 1500 points each side. Italian force was early war period army, so I did my best to keep Americans on similar level. Sadly I don't have any vehicles strictly from early war - maybe it's the sign straight from mighty Cosmos to start assembling another force 🤔

The battle was fun - we were playing Key Positions scenario, so once again I was really glad I decided to field solid squads of trusty G.I.s: now tese are double cool thank to Fire and Manoeuvre special rule. During the game we were trying to take some photos, but sadly it's pretty hard to take nice battle report quality pictures in heat of battle and without dedicated lighting. Hammering beers to make crucial strategic decisions easier didn't help much either... 🤪

This was our playground - the buildings were designed by Rilian:

Swarm of saracens advancing towards US positions:

Some supercool Italian toys:

Italian damn scorcher crawling to obliterate squad of G.I.s. with a single, deadly strike... 😖

And war-rugby match: US tanks attacking Italian assault squads at point blank range!

Hope next time I can provide better quality material. But until then - over and out!