German Fallschirmjäger Platoon

German Fallschirmjäger in World War II were the first paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. They came to be known as the “green devils” by the Allied forces they fought against, as well as for their uniquely distinct Esprit de corps.

These are the Forged in Battle Paratrooper Platoon blister pack.

I don’t know, even though I read and wrote blister pack, I some how expected these to arrive in a box! Well they don’t you get a blister.

These were a bit of an impulse purchase, which came about after reading Seelöwe Nord which is a book on a German invasion of Yorkshire!

Late summer 1940, and Britain stands on the brink of complete and uttter defeat. Thrown out of mainland Europe by the unstoppable Nazi war machine, the British stand alone against the might of Hitler’s Third Reich.

Poised for imminent invasion, cut off by U-Boats and bombarded daily from the air, the British strive to re-equip their shattered army. They don’t know when, and they don’t know where, but one thing is certain…

The Germans are coming!

15mm Ruined Shop with Passage

I already have two of the ruined buildings from the Total Battle Miniatures range of Western Europe 15mm buildings. I was lucky enough to get two more for my birthday from Simon, thank you. He gave me the ruined cafe and ruined shop with passage.

The ruined shop with passage is a nice model, though because it is ruined, you wouldn’t realise that there was a passage. This is the photograph from the manufacturer.

The reason of course is that Total Battle Miniatures range has both the complete building as well as the ruined building in their range.

The model comes with a separate piece of floor, not sure if I will use it, or build a ruined floor using some scrap wood.

It’s a nice casting with clean detail and looks very effective. I will probably use a similar method to the one I used with the other ruins. After washing the resin I will give the model a white undercoat and then use a combination of washing and drybrushing to bring out the detail.

I now have four ruins, but I think I would like to get some non-ruined buildings to complement the ruins. From photographs of Normandy in 1944, you can see in some villages and towns, whilst some houses were ruined, alongside were others that didn’t even look damaged.

15mm Ruined Cafe

I already have two of the ruined buildings from the Total Battle Miniatures range of Western Europe 15mm buildings. I was lucky enough to get two more for my birthday from Simon, thank you. He gave me the ruined cafe and ruined shop with passage.

The ruined cafe is a really nice building and comes complete with some “pavement” out the front that would have been used with tables and chairs.

15mm Ruined Cafe

It’s a nice casting with clean detail and looks very effective. I will probably use a similar method to the one I used with the other ruins. After washing the resin I will give the model a white undercoat and then use a combination of washing and drybrushing to bring out the detail.

Humber Light Reconnaissance Car

The Humber Light Reconnaissance Car, also known as Humberette or Ironside, was a British armoured car produced during the Second World War. The vehicle was used by Infantry Reconnaissance Regiments and the RAF Regiment in Tunisia, Italy and Western Europe. After the war, some vehicles remained in service with the British units in India and in the Far East. The LRC was used widely by the Reconnaissance Corps and was also used by the Reconnaissance squadron of the 1st Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade Group.

Humber Light Reconnaissance Car

Humber Light Reconnaissance Car

From Simon’s collection.

Rural Church

Rural Church

Battlefront will be releasing a rural church in their scenery range for Flames of War on the 26th May 2012. As you can see from the photograph this is for the Eastern Front. Looks very nice and goes well with the recent rural houses for the same geographical and historical era.

What I have noticed is a distinct lack of building releases for Normandy, there are quite a few buildings in the many photographs you see in the rule books and the two source books for the battle for Normandy. I wonder if the reason is that there are already a fair few companies out there already manufacturing nice resin 15mm buildings already? Having said that a fair few are also making Russian houses and churches too.

So are we going to see any terrain for Western Europe for Flames of War from Battlefront?

What do you think?

Thoughts on the ruins

I have been thinking about how I should paint the ruins that came with my Jagdpanther.

So far I have not been pleased with what I have done so far…

As a result I have been looking online and in Flames of War publications for ideas.

Finding this page on the Flames of War website made me realise I wasn’t going in the right direction with my model.

As you can see from the two examples they have done, there are quite a few things I need to do to my model.

I think I might need to start again!