A Normandy Terrace and a Field

I have made some terrain over the past week.  I finally put together my Knights of Dice Letters Home Normandy Terrace 1.  This is a great kit however I am not a fan of MDF.  I find it fiddly and awfully time consuming.  It is fairly fragile too in comparison to a 3D Print.  You can get some great stuff in MDF and I still have much to build however I am a complete 3D Printing convert for buildings.  I rather get a file, slice it and go and do other things with my time than build a MDF kit... but thats just me.

I do want to give some praise to Knights of Dice though, their owner Vivek is committed and passionate about his kits and for MDF they are absolute top quality.

The Knights of Dice assembled kit next to a 20mm WW2 3D printed
terrace by 3D Print Terrain (I went all in on their kickstarter)

Base coated, I used Rustoleum Texture Paint for the sides.

I also built an experimental field using some canvas and acrylic caulk.  I got the idea from Wargaming With Silver Whistle and his Book Setting the Scene.  It was pretty straight forward and now I know how to apply his techniques I intend on making more of these scatter pieces of terrain.

The canvas caulked and dusted with sand

Primed brown, coffee grains for soil, drybrushed and vegetation added.

I did a quick unedited photo shoot with the field and the Terrace together with some members of the 101st Airborne Division.

The Terrace and the field

I like things heavily weathered and dirty

Knights of Dice Letters Home Normandy Terrace 1

The acrylic caulk field, needs to be flattened out a bit more

101st Airborne Photoshoot

Offensive Miniatures 28mm US Airborne Paratroopers

Jumping In Part 2 - Not so Easy

Part 1 Here

I have painted up my first 10 men for my 101st Airborne D-Day Paratroopers.  As previously mentioned I have no intention of an Easy Company theme because every 101st Airborne Army is Easy Company (well not all... but most)... however that is not to say that they may recreate some of their famous actions.  They will be generic 101st Airborne Paratroopers.  Offensive miniatures model some of the infantry with the BAR which was not equipped when parachuting in due to the size of the weapon however Glider Companies carried them and it is well known that Paratroopers looted many a weapon.

I keep playing around with some post editing using the program Gimp.  Gimp is free and easy to use and there are a large amount of video tutorials etc online.  A simple google search will direct you to Gimp.

28mm US Airborne Paratroopers - Offensive Miniatures

Decals by Warlord Games

What's that rustling over there?  Meh... probably just the wind

Fresh off the painting queue.  Offensive miniatures 28mm Metal US Airborne

There you go... an Easy Company Reference for you

Jumping In

I have had my collection of Offensive Miniatures US Paratroopers for quite some time now and have been meaning to get some paint on them.  I have finally bit the bullet and done a quick test figure.  All I can say is that Offensive Miniatures are exceptionally good.  In my opinion they are the best 28mm Miniatures for US Airborne Paratroopers with a D-Day theme.  The detail is amazing and they are going to look epic on the table.  I must say, Airborne forces are my thing at the moment!

Offensive Miniatures 28mm D-Day Paratrooper

The Decal is from Warlord Games. 

Paints Used (All Valejo)

Uniform: Middlestone

Patches/Helmet: US Dark Green

Webbing/Equipment: German Cam Beige 

Boots/Rifle: Flat Brown

Helmet Straps: German Cam Medium Brown

My Plans

These guys will be used for D-Day/Operation Overlord Themed Games.  I am particularly fond of the jump uniform they wore on D-Day.  Not a fan of the later uniform, especially in 28mm as I feel the Warlord Late War US Airborne plastics just don't look right.  

I will not be doing E Company 506th PIR.  Its been done to death, I might do D company lol.  Not really sure what the theme will be but maybe just some generic 101st Airborne Paratroopers.  

Lets see how this project goes.  Follow along for more good Paratrooper goodness.

Offensive Miniatures DAK Squad 2

These took way too long to paint! On and off I have been working on these over the past 3 weeks! It is probably an all time new slow record for me for painting figures.  Offensive miniatures really have some beautiful sculpts and I am really happy with how they turned out.  I now have a basic platoon for Bolt Action and am nearly there for Battlegroup.

I shot these with my Samsung S8 and used the built in editor to crop them.  Pretty happy with the photos.

Offensive Miniatures EGDK306 DAK Squad

NCO and Rifleman - Great Poses

I love the look of Sunhats and Shorts

Some nice variation in the DAK uniforms

I like the chap on the right

DAK LMG team - I really like the pose on the gunner

Command and Control

The latest additions to my DAK are Offensive Miniatures EGDK 304 - 6 DAK infantry Command and Perry Miniatures GWW5 Kubelwagen and Staff Officer.  Also as a bonus, Offensive Miniatures have given me an awesome little Radio Operator as a bonus for ordering their DAK platoon deal.

EGDK304 Comes with 1 Officer, 1 Feldwebel (Sergeant), LMG and Loader, and 2 rifleman.  Of interest there is no Anti-tank rifle included.

Offensive Miniatures EGDK 304 - 6 DAK Infantry Command

Offensive Miniautures DAK Officer

LMG Team as part of the Command Squad

DAK Feldwebel and support.

Offensive Miniatures Bonus - A radio Operator

The mini will also double as a nice little objective

Perry Miniatures DAK Kubelwagen Staff Car

So much swagger

So what's next?

It has been a quiet month at the Panzerfaust HQ but this is all going to change.  I am going to kick off my "100 Days of Hobby" very soon.  Stay tuned for a separate post detailing this.  I am also planning on getting a new phone so expect much better photos!

Don't forget to follow me on twitter! 

Off to Africa I go

I have hinted it for the past month in my posts and I have finally began my adventure into Africa with the Deutches Afrikakorps (German African Corps), commonly known as the DAK.

I have decided to go with the 15th Panzer Division.  Why the 15th?  Most people with a good knowledge of the DAK have heard the exploits of the famed 21st Panzer Division.  The 21st Panzer Division went on to fight in Normandy and took with them their reputation from the desert as a formidable opponent.  Thus it would make sense they are a more popular choice for DAK armies, plus they had a very recognisable divisional emblem.  However I dare to be different.

15th Panzer Division Insignia

Without going into the full history of the DAK, the 15th Panzer Divsion shortly arrived after the 5th Leichte Division which went on to become the 21st Panzer Division.  The 15th missed out on the early engagements with the 5th Leichte however the 15th were involved in all major offensives and known battles within the Africa Campaign.  I am of the opinion they are often over shadowed by the almighty 21st Panzer, and I wish to bring them to life on the table.

I have chosen two paths with regards to modelling them however may expand on this.  Firstly I will be doing the 115th Shutzen Regiment and the 8th Panzer Regiment.  The 115th Shutzen Regiment was a mechanised infantry fighting force.  The 8th Panzer Regiment made up the bulk of the armoured fighting vehicles within the 15th Panzer Division.

I decided to step away from the usual Artizan/BTD miniatures combination and went for the newly released Offensive Miniatures mixed with some Perry Miniatures which have been out for quite a while.  I will do a separate post about these miniatures however all I can say is that the Offensive Miniatures are offensively good and the Perry's are superb! I will be using a combination of Warlord, Rubicon, Offensive and Perry Vehicles.  Usually I like to paint up a test figure.  Well this time I painted 10 test figures.

Offensive Miniatures EGDK 305 - 10 DAK Infantry Squad

You can see much variations in the uniforms.  There are plenty of great articles about DAK uniforms and there really is no set formula for painting DAK due to the harsh conditions of the desert.  Put this into google images and you will see what I mean.  Rather than using a specific painting guide I just used a whole lot of images and used the paints I had on hand to come up with these combinations.  I have a pinterest board for inspiration.

My army will cover all periods of the DAK from the early days of 1941 to the defeat in Tunisia in 1943.  It should be noted that the DAK sun hat, AKA the Pith Helmet was favoured by the troops due to its sun protection and comfort.  There is a great article about helmets the DAK wore here.

This army will mostly be used for Battlegroup Tobruk and Bolt Action.  If you haven't checked out Battlegroup I highly recommend you do.  It is designed for 15mm-20mm play however we have played it in 28mm with no dramas.  If you crave a more historical feel to your games as Bolt Action sadly falls short at times, Battlegroup is your turn to rules!

Make sure to follow the Blog for more updates about my journey into the desert! Lets check out my test minis!

Offensive Miniatures DAK wearing Helmets

Offensive Minatures DAK wearing caps

One of my favorite poses MG34

Squad Leader - Looks the bisiness

One of my favourites

Another favorite, I love the sun helmet.  Good job offensive Miniatures!

Another great sculpt by Offensive Miniatures 

Perry Miniatures GWW 34 Luftwaffe air crew and ground crew

Perry Miniatures GWW 34 - Their Stuka is WIP!

Comparison between Perry and Offensive Miniatures.

Yes yes I know... the actual lyrics are "I bless the rains..."