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03 January 2015

5th entry to the challenge: 28mm Blitzkrieg German Pioneers (40 Points)

The first of my two latest entries to the Challenge over at the infamous Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge:


With the Challenge already on full steam I had to finally pull out my finger and get going. So here's the first of two submissions for today. Here we have eight 28mm Pioneers from Warlord Game's superb "German Pioneers" boxed set. 


  


 I know there are some (certain) gamers out there who don't like, well maybe even hate, prone figures but I for one am a big fan of these as they bring much needed variety to the table and in case of the fellow below even may tell a little story.


 One can almost hear the bullets zipping past his head while he tries to cut a way through the wire for his comrades to follow. Poor bastard. 


My favourite from this set is the Flamethrower guy. He looks just mean and I definitely don't want to be on the receiving end of that tube.

Not having had much research on German Flamethrowers before I found several pics on Google showing a variety of colours, ranging from almost black over brown and green to even a light blue.


 In the end I decided for a rather cold blue which is a bit darker than the original light blue I found. 


  The rest of the guys were rather straight forward to do. Only the Pionieer rucksacks gave me some headaches as these again seem to have been manufactured in thousands of different shades varying from a dark brown over dark green to even a light green.


On the other hand of course this variety is one of the main reasons for me for collecting German armies for my WW2 gaming. You always can paint every single figure as an individual even if they're the very same sculpt. Especially for Skirmish gaming that's a big plus in my books. And because Germans look simply cool in their spit and polish uniforms of course ;-)







What I didn't like about the set were some of the metal separate heads which have the trademark exaggerated expressions of the comic style Warlord Games do with most of their stuff. I had hoped to filter out the worst but looking at the pic below it seems like I've missed one... well no matter he looks like a friend of mine so not too far off 'normal' human physiognomy of sorts.


As a side note I came over some discussion on the web while 'researching' my pioneers which were quite confused about the difference between the German Pioniere and the engineers in other armies.

While in most armies the engineers only performed limited battlefield duty and were mostly given construction and/ or demolition duties in the Wehrmacht however the Pioniere found themselves most of the time at the tip of an attack, clearing away obstacles, crossing rivers and performing every kind of duty necessary to breach the enemy lines.


On the retreat again they found themselves most often in the rearguard while preparing bridges to be blown up and creating obstacles like minefields etc. while often fending off enemy attacks. While there's much talk of the so called 'elite' status of the SS or the famous Panzers and Panzergrenadiere in my view the Pioniere are the forgotten heroes.


17 comments:

  1. I have to say this is one of my favourite submissions to the challenge so far - they are simply superb! The quality of the a painting and the characters that you have drawn out of the miniatures are truly wonderful.

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  2. Stunning builds and paintwork !!!

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  3. Again I confess I'm pretty much blown away by your patient and meticulous work on the skin and highlights. The result is vibrant and a great credit to these miniatures. Nothing less than an example of perfection.

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  4. Most impressed - you really are showcasing the Warlord stuff which I think is an excellent range :)

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  5. Outstanding work yet again and I really like how you changed up the uniform colours. Just like you I like the flamethrower guy most as he looks seriously dangerous!

    Christopher

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  6. These are quite excellent - best yet !

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  7. Simply amazing brushwork on all of these; each one a masterpiece unto itself. You certainly bring out the finest i any sculpts and period - these are WW2 figures and they look as impressive as a fine Renaissance painting.

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  8. Very nice work! Prone figures can sometimes really add to the immersion in the game. Soldiers standing and firing everywhere isn't really that realistic looking especially in more modern conflicts.

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  9. Hi Nick,
    stunning brushwork. I agree that prone figures are a must have on a gaming table just like wounded markers or guys.

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  10. Hi Nick:
    I agree with the other Michael, Mr. Awdry, that these figures were among the top submissions for the Challenge thus far. They are certainly jn my top three. You set the highest possible standard for WW2 miniatures in this scale and your work is an inspiration to mere brush landsers like myself.
    Cheers,
    Michael

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  11. Excellent job, they look great!

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  12. I noticed your guys have two different color jackets on. One looks like it is the standard field gray but what color did you use for the more green colored jackets?

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