Fallschirmjager + Konigstiger = Win

Just a quick follow up to this mornings Fallschirmjager WIP post.  Battlefront have put up another preview for Devils Charge, their Battle of the Bulge supplement, here.  And it includes King Tigers with Fallschirmjager tank riders!  Quality.  I remember reading years ago that there was an FJ drop during the Bulge, so hopefully the Germans will at least get some FJ support, if not a full list.

None of the current FJ lists let you use either Tiger tanks, but a tank list with FJ support? Well that's tempting!  What's more, the German armour looks like it's all in that lovely hard-edged camouflage scheme (Surprise?) Great for those of us who don't have an airbrush. Looks like yet another purchase, even if its just one for for the hell of it.

Fallschirmjager - Flames of War WIP

After several months of prevarication, I've finally managed to get some paint onto my 15mm Fallschirmjager. A sold my original Fallschirmjager last year, I was never happy with the paint job I'd done, and have had the models lying around since then. Having looked around for some inspiration and worked on a couple test figures, I think I've settled on how I want the force to look.

I'm planning to get a small force painted (for me) relatively quickly; two understrength platoons, hq & weapons, mortars and some anti-tank guns. So these figures are for the first six infantry bases. Frustratingly, I've discovered that all the PaK 40 trailer components are quite badly miscast, so I'll have to get replacements from Battlefront.

  

For the last few 15mm projects, I've been undercoating in white rather than black. Although it takes more coats to get a good finish in some colours, it is much easier to get the right contrast between your colours than working over black.

Although I won't get close to their high standards, have a look at what I'm aiming at, John Boultwood here and Ruben Torregrosa here.

Still alive and kicking...

Wow, just where did the last two weeks go?  As usual, the real world has no consideration of my toy soldiers!

The only thing I've painted recently is a test base for a new Fallschirmjager army.  I'm quite happy with how the camouflage has turned out, but I think it needs to be a bit simpler with slightly bolder colours.  Taking photographs is still proving troublesome in the house.  Not enough direct daylight and some yellow lamp bulbs mean you get pictures like the two above and below.

Unusually for Aberdeen, I was able to pick up some nerd-related products while shopping with the Mrs.  A local shop (not one I particularly like though) had the new Hordes book, Dominion and the latest No Quarter magazine.

I've had no more than a brief look through each, but Dominion looks to be quite a good buy.  Skorne and Everblight are my Hordes armies of choice and both have some great new goodies.

Lastly, I'm still looking for a new project to get my teeth into.  There's enough sci-fi kicking around this blog, so I really fancy something historical for a change.  Despite looking through a lot of rulebooks and a heap of websites, I still can't settle on anything, not even what scale or time period to use!

Battlefront Fallschirmjager Artillery Box Sets

I've been having a quick look through the new releases for Flames of War.


I was surprised at the price difference between the two Fallschirmjäger artillery box sets available.  The Fallschirmjäger Artillery Battery box includes four guns, two observers, command and staff teams and costs £35 at RRP.  

What confused me was the price of the Fallschirmjäger Heavy Artillery Battery at £26 at RRP.  Again this includes four guns, two observers, command and staff teams.


However, the difference stems from the fact that the first Artillery box includes the option for two different guns; the 10.5cm leFH18/40 & 10.5cm leFH18.  The former uses the smaller PaK 40 trailer, making it a Heavy gun team, unlike the latter which is an Immobile gun team.

A fair difference in price between the two sets (£9 for four extra trailers,) especially when you consider the two gun options, bar movement, have an identical profile.  Still, nice for the historically minded!


As you can't field a Heavy Artillery Platoon without first fielding an Artillery Platoon, the first box looks like an immediate purchase.  Not sure when I'll get round to picking up the second box set though.

Flames of War - Cassino and Fallschirmjager Preview

Battlefront have just posted some images from their Cassino book release, sometime in June.

The battle for Cassino has always been one of my favourite episodes of World War Two and hopefully this supplement will do it justice.

French Moroccan Goumiers

M6 37mm GMC

There appears to be quite a few Fallschirmjager releases, including. . . . . at long last. . . . artillery!!!

10.5cm leFH18/40 Howitzer

15cm sFH18 Howitzer

Currently, if you want dedicated Fallschirmjager artillery from Battlefront, you either have to buy an artillery box set (or the individual guns) and the fallschirmjager crew separately.  On the downside, there doesn't seem to be any scenic bases with the guns - hopefully they will be in the final release.


There are also some images of new gun puts and turrets, along with a quick mention of new "Infantry Aces"


All in all, this sounds like an excellent release and is definitely on my must-buy list.