Mission Complete Poland Was Made Great Again!

If you browse through this Blog, you will see the challenge I laid out to "Make Poland Great Again".  You can see how this vision of mine has been executed and my reasons for doing so.  I wanted to prove you can take possibly one of the most unrepresentative armies in Bolt Action with rubbish national rules and take on the hard hitting forces tailored to powerful national rules and beat them.  Not to mention you have limited early war equipment at their disposal!

On the weekend of 28-29 January 2017 in the Nation's Capitol, CANCON took place.

I took my 1000pt Polish Army and set out to achieve greatness and they did just that!

Early War Poles... So much swagger

So how did they go?

Game 1 vs Late War Germans with a Tiger fearing Tiger 1 - Victory

Game 2 vs Late War British with double prep bombardment, Vet Firefly, Free Arty Obs - Victory

Game 3 vs Early War Partisans.  Complete level playing field and a great opponent - Victory

Game 4 vs Late War Germans with 2 x Tanks including Tiger Fear (opponent forgot rule) - Victory

Game 5 and the decider vs Late War Germans with no Tiger Fear - Draw


Out of the 54 players in the tournament I was undefeated, achieved 3rd place and won best Minor Powers General (only half a dozen or so Minor Powers).  I was also one of the only early war armies and the majority were late war usual suspects being British, German, Americans and Soviets.  On a side note I made it into the top 10 Best Painted, however 2 very lovely painted German Armies took out the award.

Note the Polish theme for the minor Powers General.  It was Poland's time!

Here is my list for those that wish to view it.  Note the lack of Special Rules.  I had only played the Poles once before the tournament so I quickly had to work out how to best play them!

Project Poland is far from finished! I have so much more to paint and many options to expand the Army.

On a final note.  You don't need big fancy units with special rules to do well in Bolt Action.  I didn't need to rely on Poland's very ordinary National rules at all during the Tournament.  Any nation in Bolt Action can do well with a bit of thought, creative list writing and good Generalship.  Leave the cheese behind.

28mm World War 2 Polish Army Showcase

A couple of weeks ago I finally finished my first (yet no where near complete) Polish Army for Bolt Action.  The force is 1000 points and will be played in Australia's biggest Tournament CANCON in the nation's capital of Canberra.

I have played the Army once in a great game and a historical match up with my good friend Luke and his early war Soviets.

The following pictures do not show the complete Army, its only a small selection!  It is a combined traditional Polish Army with elements of the 10th Mechanised Brigade.

I have also used a new photography method - Goodbye black dress, hello white paper! Also, goodbye JPG, hello PNG!

This will not only be used for Bolt Action but I want to really start playing more Battlegroup which is a brilliant rule set for World War 2.  It is designed for 15mm and 20mm however we have proven it also works for glorious 28mm. Such hipsters going against what the game is designed for.

This army is far from complete, watch this space for more Polish Greatness!!! MAKE POLAND GREAT AGAIN!

Enjoy and as always feel free to comment or ask questions.

Polish HQ. Elite Officers of Poland. Soldier on far right is a radio Operator.

20mm Tankette! Note how small it is!

Anti Tank Rifle Team.  Can't play Poland without these guys.

Medium Mortar Team

Polish Medium Howitzer and Crew.  Spotter has the binoculars

Howitzer is by Mad Bob Miniatures

Polish Cavalry armed with Lancers

Can be used as a HQ option

Various Polish Infantry - Warlord Games

10th Mech HQ - Awesome Sculpts by Gorgon Studios - HQ Options

10th Mech Anti Tank Rifle

10th Mech Light Mortar Team - Very iconic for Poland

10th Mech BAR Team

Various 10th Mech Infantry

2017 - Time to step up! The road ahead.

I haven't done a post in a while so I thought I would just quickly write what my war gaming goals (well we can only hope) are for 2017.  The silly season and renovating a house hasn't helped!  Can I do it?!?  Of course I know I cant finish all of the bellow but I want to put some good dents in the projects!

First and foremost...

I am currently applying the final touches to my Bolt Aciton 1000 point force then will be adding more units to them over time to really make them great!  Stay tuned for this!

Bolt Action

Armies that I have and will be expanding on:

- Mid War/Late War Fallshirmjager
- Mid War/Late War Grenadiers
- Panzer Lehr Grenadiers
- USMC
- Deutches Afrika Korps
- Luftwaffe Field Division
- Armoured platoons for all of the above!

New projects I will be starting: I have the models for this!

- Kharkov 1943 - Winter SS
- D-Day 101st Airborne
- Imperial Japanese Army
- Blitzkrieg Germans/Mid War Germans - Poland, Summer 1940, Sea Lion, Barbarossa etc (all sorts of goodness!)
- Armoured platoons/support for the above!
- German K47 Starter Set
- Band of Brothers Starter Set

Other Systems

Kingdom Death Monster - I have the original and is on the bench
The Walking Dead All Out War - Kickstarter edition and about to finish first batch of minis
Zombicide - Various Season 1 stuff, Black Plague Kickstarter and tones of goodness
Z War One Damnation - Brilliant Game
Terminator Genisys - Good game done up some minis already
Gears of War - started painting a few
Frostgrave - Got a few models painted, a bit on the fence with this.

Terrain

Will start posting soon!  I have built quite a bit so far and will start getting some posts up.  Got lots of World War 2 stuff and post apocalyptic goodness.  I aim to have a Normandy and Eastern Front themed table done within the next few months.

General

I am going to post more reviews, more tutorials and more gaming goodness.  Stay tuned and stick with me (or even join me) for a cracker of a year.

Tutorial 28mm Polish Painting Guide WW2

Here is my recipe for painting World War 2 Polish Soldiers.  This tutorial/guide is about 90% historically accurate.  Apologies for the varying photography but you get the idea.  I will go into specific techniques as we go.  I got this recipe from a multitude of sources. I would consider this my tabletop standard.  I use a mixture of paint brands.  Substitute other brands or shades if you do not have what I recommend.  

I use an airbrush to undercoat them Black with Vallejo Surface Primer

 STEP 1 - BASECOATING

I use a wet pallet.  I do not thin the paint too much for the basecoat.  I just slap it on.  As you can see its not the neatest of jobs however the process I use allows you to cover and fix your mistakes as I go.  Basecoating is the longest stage in my tutorial.  Dont worry too much at first, just get the paint on.  Its my least favorite part of painting.

Uniform - Green Brown

Backpack - Khaki

Boots, Bedroll, Straps - German Camo Brown

Helmet, Mess-kit, Entrenching Tool Shaft - Cam Olive Green

Ankles Straps, Bedroll Straps - US Field Drab

Rifle, Entrenching Tool Handle and Top, Pouches - Flat Brown

Bread Bag, Bag and straps - Green Grey

Skin 1st Coat - AK Base Flesh

Skin Second Coat - AK Light Flesh

 STEP 2 - WASH

Don't be shy.  Get it all over the figure.  Please note I use an ink, not the Army Painter Dip.  It takes about an hour to dry properly.

Wash the Whole Model - Army Painter Strong Ink

 STEP 3 - HIGHLIGHTING AND DETAILS

Thin your paints!  With a wet pallet this occurs naturally however you don't want thick paint for highlighting.

For the eyes I use the raccoon method (well thats what I call it).  Easiest way to describe it is thin your paints.  Draw a black line where the eye is.  Then draw a very small white line over the black line.  Then use black and paint a little pupil.  Its best to go from top to bottom with the pupil.  You can then use base flesh to close the eye in and reduce the black outline.

Blacklining is done to make the miniature pop.  Use thinned black paint and a small brush to do this.  I usually black line equipment, uniforms, straps etc.

For the Helmet I chip it with a sponge.  Use a small bit of sponge.  Dab some black paint on it.  Dab most of it off on a paper towel then apply to the helmet.  I then use Green Grey to create scratches etc with a fine brush.

Apply all base colours as highlights over the raised areas. Don't do the skin.

Paint the Eyes

Fix up the eyes and reduce the black eyeliner with AK - Base Flesh

Highlight the Skin with AK - Light Flesh

Lips Are Done With AK Shadow Flesh.  Skin Highlights done with AK Highlight Flesh

Rifles, Entrenching Tool Wooden Handle Highlights - Orange Brown

Pick out parts of the rifle - Gun Metal

Pick out details such as cap badges, buttons etc

Blackline Uniform, straps and equipment

Helmet is chipped, base is painted Flat Brown, Drybrushed Khaki, Base Rim US Field Drab

STEP 4 - VARNISHING AND BASING

I use the airbrush here.  I use Polyurethane matt varnish or gloss varnish first.  This is nice and thick and gives a good layer of protection.  It will be shiny tho!.

Once dry I use a variety of flock and basing materials to create that Polish Summer/Autumn theme!

Once that is dry I finish it off with Matt Acrylic Varnish to dull out the shine and seal in the flock.

Vallejo Polyurethane Matt Varnish applied - Note it is not quite matt and is shiny

Miniatures are based with Flock and other goodness.  Sprayed with Matt Varnish

So there you go.  All up it took about 3 hours to paint these three miniatures.  Its not going to be the best way to paint but its what I consider my tabletop standard.  Here is the finished result.  Enjoy.

Get to the front soldier!

At the ready.

Reloading.