Achtung - Panzer!

I was eyeing the plastic Panzer 38(t) from Warlord Games for a good while now, but as I currently wasn't into Early War WW2 I saw no imminent need and thus was in no hurry to get me one.
Well, this immediately changed with the release of the Blitzkrieg 1940 supplement for Chain of Command by TooFatLardies. It's not only crammed full to the brim with army lists for the six nations involved in Fall Gelb and Fall Rot along with rules amandments for even more period flavour, but also contains five new scenarios to give you even more Blitzkrieg for your bug. Well, you see... I'm quite impressed with that latest offering from the Lardies.

And, to get back to the primary reason for this post, so am I with this little cutie of a tank.
As with some of the other kits that are no product of the collaboration with Italeri, I'm quite sure it's an upscaled version of the 20mm version by Plastic Soldier Company with a few minor changes to make it work in 28mm. Nonetheless, or maybe just because of it, it's a brilliant piece of kit, that went together nicely. My only minor niggle would be the significant lack of bits and pieces for customization. This particular issue was adressed with some bits from the bits box(mostly Warlord Games and Tamiya), some Jerry cans taken from the German Stowage Kit by Rubicon Models, as well as some minor scratch building on my part.

The Panzer 38(t) - or ČKD-Praga TNH, respectively LT vz. 38 for Lehký tank vzor 38, Model 38 light tank as it was to be designated by the Czech army before annexation - was a mainstay of the German armoured divisions from the Invasion of Poland, over the Battle for France as well as Operation Barbarossa and beyond.

When Germany annexed Czechoslovakia in 1939 it also took over a highly capable armaments industry which was promptly integrated into the Reichs efforts to build up the necessary resources for the upcoming war. The Panzer 38(t) - (t) stands for Czech - as it was now designated was almost equal  in performance to the then current versions of the German made Panzer III and IV's. It was well liked by its crews due to its mechanical reliability and ease of maintenance.

Originally it was designed with a one man turret but German engineers reduced the ammo load in order to squeeze in a loader to help the commander who also had to aim and fire the main gun. A few were also given to Germanys allies and fought on to the end of WW2. But with the increasing appearance of heavier Soviet tanks like the KV series and the famous T-34 the Panzer 38(t) was deemed obsolete as it could not fit a bigger main gun. Thus production finally ceased in  June 1942 after more than 1400 were built.

The chassis of the Panzer 38(t) continued to be built for a number of other vehicles like the Marder III (Sd.Kfz. 138 & 139), the Jagdpanzer 38(t) "Hetzer" and Flakpanzer 38(t). Several tanks even continued in service till well after the war. Its last recorded combat use saw the Panzer 38(t) as late as 1967 when the Syrians deployed it along with several other outdated German tanks during the six-day war against Israel.

To make a vehicle in Panzergrau look interesting on the table can be a daunting task. You get really tempted to either rush the job as "it'll look boring anyway" or to go overboard with weathering. In the end I think the Panzer came out quite nicely and I'm really looking forward to deploy it on the table.

Panzer commander - magnetized so he can be taken out when tank destroyed

On another note Pat of Wargaming wit Silver Whistle fame has posted pictures of his new terrain mat along with the figures and tanks I painted up for his upcoming book Setting the Scene 2: The Mediterranean. So should you've not already done so anyway (if not, why not?) I encourage you to use the link provided above to pay his Blog a visit. It's definitely well worth your time, not only to see my shoddy brushmanship set in scene (no pun intended here) brilliantly, but more so for all the inspiration provided there.

Miniatures and tank by me - terrain and basing by Pat

That's it for today. I hope to be back soon with some more Early War goodness.

Have a nice weekend and till next time!

Oggi Parliamo Italiano

Well, let's talk Italian for a change. Over the last months I've been painting away on a small Italian unit for fellow Blogger Pat, well known through his blog -Wargaming with Silver Whistle- and Author of the rather excellent "Setting the Scene: Winter Wargaming".
Right now he's working on a second book focusing on the Mediterranean. I've painted a few figures previously for him which featured in his first book and as he asked me if I'd like to paint something for his upcoming book I took the chance to help the Regio Esercito Italiano to "their place in the sun".

2nd Soviet Tank Rider Squad

Due to the ongoing heat wave in this part of Europe I've barely touched a brush over the last few weeks. It was only in the early hours when temperatures outside were down to a bearable 24°C (which didn't mean the flat has cooled down as much sadly), that I got in any painting time. Instead of finishing off the afore mentioned Italians I made best use of what little time I had before the heat struck again, and finished off a second squad of Soviet Tank Riders for Chain of Command.

Viva España! - Some terrain for SCW

Well, to be perfectly honest I actually should be sitting on my desk and paint some WW2 Italians I promised to get done for a friend. And actually most of them are more or less done already... just the finishing touches. Ok, who am I kidding here?
Truth is I got distracted by Pats (Wargaming with Silver Whistle) *latest blogpost* about his upcoming book Setting the Scene 2. Loads of wonderful pictures to get inspired by. And inspired I got...

Chain of Command - Somewhere in Holland 1944

Just a few snapshots of a recent game of Chain of Command we had at my place. It saw an American advance column facing off against German Fallschirmjäger somewhere in Holland late summer 1944.
Both forces were regular and had minimal support, i.e. no tanks or other flights of fancy.
The Germans started off with a Force Morale rating of 10, where as the Americans had to make do with a mere 8.

The attackers table edge

SCW - Yet more Republicans

It's summer. And as in every summer thus far the hobby is placed on a backburner while other things get priority. So these guys were sitting on my painting table for quite some time now. To be perfectly honest it wasn't only the summer though...

Back to late antiquity

I haven't painted anything for my Late Romans in a while and, truth be told, even todays offerings were finished quite some time back in 2017. But I've finally got in gear and took some photos.

First off my new mounted Warlord/ Tribune. Figures are Westwind Miniatures with heads taken from Wargames Foundry. Westwind do some very characterful figures, which fit nicely with Footsore and Gripping Beast, but some of the heads can be a little hit and miss unfortunately.

Sightseeing 500 A.D.

I've been running a small competition on the German Sweetwater Forum. The goal was to create a small vignette.

To see the other entries I encourage you to visit the link above. Some really nice scenes there.

Have a nice sunday!

Ludi incipiant!

I hardly have touched a brush since the end of the challenge, thus I finally took the opportunity to take some pictures of miniatures I already painted last year but didn't come round to post.

First will be my small collection of Gladiators.

remember to click for a bigger picture

Miniatures are from the superb Crusader Miniatures range and were a real joy to paint. I even took the chance to try to hand paint the shields. I'm rather chuffed I have to admit.
In my opinion Gladiators also offer the perfect chance to try out some recipes for different skin colours.

I still have some more of these in the painting queue but these will have to wait till I feel a little more like painting again.

Till next time!

Some 15mm for a change

After having painted a sizable US Paratrooper force for the Battle of the Bulge over the last two years, I decided it was about high time to give them some opponents...

... oh well, bugger that.

No, in fact I started work on some US Army guys ready to invade Tunisia/ Sicily/ Normandy. Figures are the current Battlefront plastic offerings. I got them for a steal which meant instead of painting up some Brits for a change, I was stuck with US... again.
The figures are OK-ish. Better than most of their metal ones but still there's the odd miscast in the mix.