Poland First to Fight

Recently I visited Krakow in Poland.  Whilst there I visited the Oscar Schindler Museum which had some excellent displays about the German Blitzkrieg and the Occupation of Poland.  This sparked my interest in Poland's involvement in the Second World War.  I purchased Battlegroup Blitzkrieg that really sparked my interest in the era.  Being a 28mm gamer I did not want to change scales so it was time to start a Bolt Action army that can also be used in other game systems.  I have had a keen interest in Poland and the early war for about the last 4 or 5 months.

Recently at MOAB 2016 I picked up a cracking deal from War and Peace Games at a very nice discount.  I couldn't wait to paint up a test mini.  The bolt action miniatures are very nice sculpts and will look great on the table.

Warlord Games 28mm Metal Polish Infantry - Test figure for my Army - Autumn 1939

So here he is.  What is interesting is that the examples of painted Poles on the Warlord Website contrasts with the colours they suggest you paint them with!  I decided to go for the historical approach and this is what you get!  Overall this was a very simple miniature to paint.  The sculpt is excellent and there is lots of nice details to pick out.  I decided to not add their blue collar tabs as they did not (or were not meant to) wear these in combat.  I am still not 100% satisfied with my photography.  The above photo was done with a HTC One.  The following photo was also done with a HTC One and the final photo was done with a Nokia 920.  I will eventually try something different to having a black background!

Same miniature taken with HTC One M8 no LED light added to shot

Same miniature taken with Nokia 920

Time To Make Poland Great Again!

Politics aside, I thought this was pretty funny - I did not make this image!

Poland would have to be one of the least represented armies in Bolt Action (I know they are out there!).  I have never seen them on the table in person in the Australian Scene.  Poland is one of those nations that most people write off in World War II.  They were an extremely proud and tough military force and the overwhelming German Blitzkrieg completely over ran them.  On many occasions they gave the German's a bloody nose and lets not forget they were abandoned by the allies and betrayed by the Soviets.  

I think Poland is misrepresented in the Bolt Action Rules and their national rules are quite rubbish.  Their army list is quite bland however I want to create a Historical force with many options that will really change the attitude of players towards the Polish.  I was quite opposed to cavalry in the game initially however after doing my research it is a must in a Polish list.  Saying that I am glad they have toned down Cavalry in Version 2.

So keep an eye out for updates, I have big plans for the Poles and may not just focus on the dark days of September 1939.  If I can get a few more players interested in Poland, I think I would have achieved my goal!  I look forward to making and playing this army.

Fallschirmjager Veterans - East Meets West

I have built up three more troops for my ever expanding Fallschirmjager Force.  I want them to be a cross between the Normandy Campaign and the Campaigns of the Eastern Front for a true representation of hardened veterans.

I deliberately chose some of the early war smocks to represent this.  I will be doing up some looted weapons shortly to continue this theme.

I have made a small LMG team and an additional riflemen.  I intend to get away from the FG42 and arm my troops with more rifles to keep them themed and more historical.

This first trooper is the LMG Gunner.  The look I went for was that of another Fighter Bomber, or what German's referred to as the Jabo (Jagdbomber) attack.  You can see the frustration and despair in his face... not again!

Deckung! Jabo! - Looking to the skies, another Fighter Bomber attack!

Next up is the dedicated loader.  His face says it all, it has been a long war!

Warlord Late War Plastic Grenadier with Fallschirmjager Head.

The final addition is a lone rifleman.  Again I have used an early/mid war jump smock

Warlord Fallschirmjager

Expanding the USMC

With Mother of All Battles (MOAB) 2016, I decided to expand on my 750 point USMC force that you can view here,  The force has had a few minor changes.  I decided to drop the Air Observer as they are cheesey and too powerful in Bolt Action V1.  MOAB will be the last event on the Australian Scene to use Bolt Action V2.  The event is 1250 points and must be themed.  I have run with the 1st Marine Division at Okinawa.  This can also be used for Pelileu you just can't take the M29 Weasel as they debuted at Iwo Jima.

I have added, an additional engineer, Bazooka Team, M3A1 37mm Light AT gin, M29 Weasel, M4A3 Sherman and a LVT4.

Enjoy!

Rolling out the reinforcements

Boots on the ground

M4A3 Sherman - Rubicon Models, Warlord Plastic Crew, JTFM Stowage

M4A3 Sherman

Note the clock face for the phone (they were actually on the starboard side)

M29 Weasel - Company B Models, Warlord Crew, Mixed Stowage

LVT4 - Warlord Resin, Warlord Metal Stowage, Warlord Plastic Crew

M3A1 37mm Light AT Gun - Warlord Games

Smoking on the job

Bazooka Crew - 28mm Warlord USMC Plastics

An additional engineer - 28mm Warlord USMC Plastics

Bolt Action Messerschmitt Me 262 Bolt Action and Operation Armoured Fist 2016

My gaming club and possibly the best gaming club in Sydney, Company of Dice hosted Operation Armoured Fist which was run by our good friend Rob.

This article will discuss my decision to run a War Plane, it's construction and how it performed on the day.

The Me 262 A-1a 1/72 Scale from Revell Models

Concept

Armoured fist allows you to run Armoured Platoons and War Planes with 1500 points to play with.  As I have never run a War Plane in Bolt Action before and the rules are being phased out for Second Edition (so I have been told), I just happened to have an un-built Me 262 laying around that was not intended to be used for war gaming.

Constructed and ready for priming

Pre-shading done.  This can be rough

Base Coated

Post Shading Done

Me 262 A-1a By Revell Models

Them Jets

With its base

Armoured Fist

The Prizes

My Force

My Force

The Germans Roll Out

Mind your ears!

Game 1 vs Soviets

Game 2 Strafing Run on Bryan's Hungarians

Me 262 Wrecked 2 of Bryan's Hetzers

Stug Down!

Bail out!

Game 3 vs Zane - Me 262 Flying over the Battle Field

How did the 262 go?

For 253 Points it is Regular has 4 x Heavy Auto Cannons and a bomb.  To say it was overpowered was an understatement!

Game 1 vs Soviets - Victory.  Tabled the enemy turn 5. 262 knocked out a T34 and strafed two infantry units. 1497 points collectively damage done.

Game 2 vs Hungarians - Loss.  Hard fought tank battle!  262 wrecked two Hetzers and strafed a Zyrinii II.  1000 points collectively damage done.

Game 3 vs Germans - Victory. Awesome grudge match in demolition.  262 knocked out an Armoured Car and a Panzer 3.  Did a strafing run on a Panzer 4. 893 points collectively damage done.

Overall I came 4th and got the honorary Terminator Award (unofficially) from the organiser Rob.  I clocked up 3390 points of damage over 3 games! No one came close to that!

Bryan took out the day with First Place and Best Painted (Hungarians) and in my opinion well deserved!