Somua S 35, From Battlefront

So, I'm putting together my early war French stuff and I decided to continue my tank building and painting spree I started with the Tigers a few weeks ago.

Thankfully, the French were totally defeated before winter set in so I won't be doing any winter schemes or painting for this army. I can finally retire my white paint for awhile I hope :)

First up, I'm knocking out the 4 Somua S35 that will be in my Panhard (Panhorde) list.

In game terms I think it's a great little tank. For the time a 4, 2 1 armor is solid and the 2, 6, 4+ gun ain't bad either. The only drawback, like most French tanks is the slow turret. Historically, this little guy stood up well against it's adversary the early Panzer III. It's only because of poor strategic decisions by higher command and an inability to produce it in large numbers that it wasn't a major factor on the battlefield. The Germans used a number of captures Somua's late into 1944, with some seeing action in Normandy.

Here's the final product:

See my inspiration, how it got build and more smexy painted pics after the break!

The rest of KG Hummel

Must. Own. This.

So the other day I posted up the pics for the Tiger 1E's from my KG Hummel list. Today you get the rest of them!

I can't remember if I ever posted the list so here it is:

HQ: 2x Tiger 1E

Plat 1: 4x Tiger 1E

Plat 2: 2x Tiger 1E

Plat 3: Full Pio's (CV)

Plat 4: 3x Nebs (FV)

Plat 5:  4x 250/9 Recce (FV)

Plat 6: 2x FlaK38 1x 88 AA Platoon (RT)

It totals out to exactly 1780 points and is a nice round 6 platoons. There are certainly some changes I'd make at this point like dropping at least 1 of the recce vehicles and picking up another Neb. And maybe dropping 1 tiger and something for some 105's or 155's.

But mostly, this is just a show and tell pic dump so... ON WITH THE PIC'S!

Pioneers:

More after the break!

Winter Tigers, A KG Hummel How To

I have no idea what that says.

Hey all, after posting up my blog yesterday I got some requests as to how I painted up my Tigers to look all winterized.

Not being one to pass up a chance to write, post pics and play a little show and tell I'll gladly share my secrets with you... But don't tell anyone else, I don't want it getting out ;)

Sadly, I don't have any WIP pics of the Tigers so I'm going to show some closeups of the tanks and explain how I got there.

First off, you need Tigers... Or any tank of your choice really... duh.

For Battlefront tanks I ALWAYS wash them in warm soapy water first. Why, well you'll occasionally see that white powdery stuff on there and that, my friends, is release agent. Release agent is a painters worst enemy, other than dropping the model it's one of the key ways paint gets chipped or rubbed off.

After the washing and drying go ahead and prime them. I use a paint on primer because I'm horrible at spray priming and I think you get a better more consistent finish with the brush on variety. Nearly all my stuff is based with a white paint-on Gesso. Gesso is a canvas primer you can find at your local Michael's, Utrecht, or other craft/art supply store for about 6 bucks a bottle. It'll last you WAY longer than spray on primer, in fact my current bottle has lasted about 3 years and I'm only about half way through it.  

 They end up like this, follow along after the break to see how I got there.

Showcase Comics 1780 Late War AAR

Look sharp... but act dumb... 

Well hey there dear reader (I imagine there's only one of you, and it's my mom). This weekend I had the opportunity to travel up to Media, PA with my homie Ben and get some great games at a most excellent location.

Showcase Comics and Games hosted a 3 round 1780 point late war tournament at their Granite Run Mall location. First off, they have a great store and if you're on the I-95 corridor here in the mid-Atlantic you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't go at least once.

They've got a great selection of comics (if you're into that sort of thing), 40k, Fantasy, Warmahordes and my baby Flames of War not to mention a slew of other games and fun. The store has great decor as well, a space marine stands guard out front while Genestealers crawl out of air ducts on the ceiling. Fun stuff.

The gaming loot is excellently sorted by army and type and they had a 20% sale on pretty much everything over the weekend, so: Wallet 0 -- Showcase 1.

But on to the gaming!

So, for the tournament I decided to get experimental and go with Kampfgruppe Hummel out of the new Bridge by Bridge Market Garden Compilation. Here's the list

HQ: 2x Tiger 1E
Combat Platoon 1: 4x Tiger 1E
Combat Platoon 2: 2x Tiger 1E
Support 1: 4x 250/9 recce
Support 2: Full Pioneer Platoon (Each round I took 3 flamethrowers)
Support 3: 3x Nebs
Support 4: 2x FlaK36 1x 88 Anti-Aircraft

It came in at 1780 exactly and 6 platoons. Here's some pics:

After the break I'll break down the rounds: