You've done a great job on these Greg. I agree the Battlefront infantry is hit and miss but I found these winter themed packs to be very nicely sculpted and cast.
I like the bases. Really reminds me of the footage of Germans in the snowy grasslands outside of Moscow. The tufts of grass are very fitting I think.
One thought I had is that maybe the snowy bases would pop a bit more with a black or dark brown edge along the sides. The off white looks a little unfinished. Just some unsolicited constructive criticism.
What did you use to base them? I quite like individually based 15mm models.
Cameron - the bases are 20mm round, and the weapon teams are on 25mm round. They are 1.5mm thick plywood from Litko.
I had originally tried black edges on the bases, and found that on the table the dark circles really took away from the figures - gave the appearance of a bunch of dark rings.
But it would be nice to get them to pop a little more...hopefully on a proper winter table, and not my kitchen :)
Great post; great models; great painting: nice work all round!
I'm only just getting into Bolt Action-style individual 15mm basing, but I'm concious that drab Brits tend to all look the same, so my plan at the moment is to EITHER paint a unit/rank/specialism flash onto the back of the base (as I do with my massed 40k IG infantry) OR maybe even modelling a wee small 'plaque' onto the base behind the mini (maybe 3mm wide?) - which may or may not then be painted - to differentiate. What did you do in the end, please?
Hi Drax - those of us doing the individual 15mm basing all have our own approach, but generally we are using different-shaped bases to make things different...so squares for NCOs, hexes for senior commanders etc.
I have also had good results just taping a small paper label under the base if that is ever called for...certainly if you have the skills to do a little plaque, go nuts!
January 9, 2014 at 9:04 AM
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15mm late war winter WW2 Germans
Curt C from Regina recently inspired me to finally get some winter WW2 figures done. I started with Russians, but wanted to do some winter Germans for them to fight on the gaming table here in Winnipeg. Trying my best to copy Curt's excellent work, I recently finished a small, individually-based 15mm platoon of my own.
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Mix of great coats and parkas on these troops
The figures are all Battlefront ones, 15mm scale, from a box of late-war winter Volksgrenadiers. Battlefront's sculpting for infantry can be a little hit and miss, but these were mostly all "hits". These fellows manage to simultaneously look well-equipped and a little bedraggled - after all, what could be worse than facing the Red Army? Facing the Red Army in the winter!
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The larger base on the right has an MG42 team
You can see from the pictures that I am still not varying the bases for NCOs, special weapons etc. The special bases are en route from Warbases in Scotland, and I was too impatient to wait. Individual 15mm figures do not take long to paint, so I will either re-base, or just paint more, when the new bases finally get here. In the interim I'll just print up little tags for the figures if it's called for.
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NCO directs his squad
I used the same gel & paint approach on the winter bases as I did with the Russians. I have some ways to go to improve, but I'm starting to get more used to the techniques involved. I still try and make the snow messy and dirty, but often go too far with weathering (same on my vehicles). I know less is more, but on the other hand I can think of them as "late winter/spring" bases.
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The must-have German LMG firing position
There are three eight-man squads, led by an NCO and including an MG-42 team and a fellow with a Panzerfaust. The troops all have rifles, and the NCOs have MP-40s, although I think one STG-44 snuck in there somewhere.
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Slightly blurry Panzerschrek team
There is a two-man Panzerschrek team, and one senior officer, who I think is supposed to be a "warrior", one of those Battlefront "Special Character" types. I don't bother with that kind of thing much in WW2 gaming, but he was wearing an Iron Cross so I thought he would be good to represent some kind of hard-ass veteran officer holding the grunts together. My brushwork is too weak to pick out the Iron Cross, so I tried to highlight the ribbon a bit.
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The fellow in front with the red ribbon is the senior officer - so tough he barely needs protection against the weather
Based individually, I hope to use these sometime soon in a game of Blitzkrieg, or Chain of Command or Bolt Action or some such similar WW2 skirmish rules. I am working on some vehicles to support these fellow, and hope to have a post on that soon.
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A cool-looking way to hold the MG42 - not sure if that worked out in practice...
Winter is on the way - hope to get these fellows on to the table soon. Winters on the Eastern Front offer a lot of great scenarios. And of course these guys can also fight in the Battle of the Bulge, but for now I am focusing on the East, looking to add more winter units to the German and Russian sides. I am also doing some units in the more common FOW-style group bases. Should keep me busy during Curt's next painting challenge...
"Late War Winter Germans - 15mm"
8 Comments -
Nice work Greg!
November 5, 2013 at 8:26 PM
Yes, I agree- they look terrific!
November 6, 2013 at 12:56 PM
You've done a great job on these Greg. I agree the Battlefront infantry is hit and miss but I found these winter themed packs to be very nicely sculpted and cast.
November 6, 2013 at 1:14 PM
I like the bases. Really reminds me of the footage of Germans in the snowy grasslands outside of Moscow. The tufts of grass are very fitting I think.
One thought I had is that maybe the snowy bases would pop a bit more with a black or dark brown edge along the sides. The off white looks a little unfinished. Just some unsolicited constructive criticism.
What did you use to base them? I quite like individually based 15mm models.
November 6, 2013 at 4:20 PM
Thanks guys.
Cameron - the bases are 20mm round, and the weapon teams are on 25mm round. They are 1.5mm thick plywood from Litko.
I had originally tried black edges on the bases, and found that on the table the dark circles really took away from the figures - gave the appearance of a bunch of dark rings.
But it would be nice to get them to pop a little more...hopefully on a proper winter table, and not my kitchen :)
November 6, 2013 at 4:23 PM
Great post; great models; great painting: nice work all round!
I'm only just getting into Bolt Action-style individual 15mm basing, but I'm concious that drab Brits tend to all look the same, so my plan at the moment is to EITHER paint a unit/rank/specialism flash onto the back of the base (as I do with my massed 40k IG infantry) OR maybe even modelling a wee small 'plaque' onto the base behind the mini (maybe 3mm wide?) - which may or may not then be painted - to differentiate. What did you do in the end, please?
January 9, 2014 at 7:26 AM
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January 9, 2014 at 7:28 AM
Hi Drax - those of us doing the individual 15mm basing all have our own approach, but generally we are using different-shaped bases to make things different...so squares for NCOs, hexes for senior commanders etc.
I have also had good results just taping a small paper label under the base if that is ever called for...certainly if you have the skills to do a little plaque, go nuts!
January 9, 2014 at 9:04 AM