'Fellowship' from AlanD: 'Smrt fašizmu! Sloboda narodu!'

'Death to fascism! Freedom to the People!'

My entry for the Fellowship Round is a group of Jugoslavian Partisans from 1943, part of the Balkan project I'm working on at the moment. 'Brotherhood and Unity' was the main slogan of Jugoslavian Communists both during and after the war, a statement of fellowship that has proven all too elusive in the region.

The main reason for the success of Tito's partisan movement in WWII was that it was based on unity through ideology rather than sectarian identity. After the dismemberment of Jugoslavia by the Nazis in 1941 and the creation of the fascist Croatian state, what had been Jugoslavia was wracked by unimaginable brutality. Serbian Chetniks sought to 'cleanse' territory of Croatians and Muslims, the Croatian Ustashe began a genocide of Serbs, Jews and Muslims that made hardened Nazis queasy, and Bosnian Muslims began their own 'ethnic cleansing', especially once they were armed and organised through Himmer's SS.

In contrast, the Partisan movement led by Tito consciously rejected ethnic sectarianism. Its goal of establishing a pan-ethnic Communist state led to conflict with the other main resistance group, the Serbian Chetniks, with the result that the Chetniks ended up by 1943 collaborating with the Nazis against the Partisans.

By the end of the war the Partisans numbered about 800,000 men and women, drawn from every part of Jugoslavia. In addition to the fighters, the Women's Antifascist Front supported the Partisans, took over the burden of agriculture, and also worked to care for and educate the huge numbers of children orphaned by the violence.

The Partisans I painted this week are meant to represent a group from late 1943 in Croatia or Western Bosnia. They have managed to uniform most of their members from Italian uniforms captured after the Italian capitulation, and have managed to get hold of an Italian L3/33 tankette, rapidly painting red stars over the Italian markings. A few men still have civilian clothing, and a couple wear German tunics. Weapons are either of German or Italian origin.

The figures are a mix, based mainly on Perry Italian infantry with heads and bits from Warlord kits and greenstuff caps. The ones in civilian clothing are from Crusader Miniatures. 10 figures, a tank and a couple of crew should get me 175 points, as I edge towards my goal of 1500!

'Reconnaissance' from BenitoM: British Armour Leading Forward

My project for this Bonus Round will have a very British flavour and of course related to my WW2 British Airborne project this year. Let me introduce you my trio for this round.

The first is a Humber Car, widely used by the armoured divisions in the roles of command vehicle and also for scout purposes. In this case, the model is representing the vehicle of  Brigadier J.O.E. Vandeleur (aka Michael Cane), who led the spearhead of the XXX Corps across the infamous Hell’s Highway in Holland September 1944.

The model has the marks of the 3^rd Battalion Irish Guards (32^nd Guards Division) who together with the 2^nd Armoured Battalion Irish Guards were the leading elements of advance towards Eindhoven, Nijmegen and finally (failed) Arnhem.

 

This model is a resin + metal kit from Warlord Games and will be part of my support elements of the British Airborne platoon.

The second model for the bonus round is this Cromwell tank.

The tank has the markings of the Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment of the 11^th Armoured Division (Black Bulls) and the white cirlce in the turret indicates that it belongs to the C Squadron. 

This is the Warlord plastic kit (the resin has been discontinued) and although presenting good detail, generally I still prefer the Rubicon models (sadly no Cromwells yet in their catalogue).

The Cromwell will also represent my first entry (not the last!) for the What a Tanker! contest (hi Rich, hi Nick).

My breakfast mug for those really hard working days

My third and last entry for the bonus round is the eponymous Willys jeep of the famous 1^st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron led by Major Gough. This was the first unit to engage in combat with the Germans defenders a few hours after glider-landing, failing to achieve its key objective, the bridge at Arnhem over the Rhine river.

The jeep depicts the well-known “Mickey Mouse” camouflage pattern used by the British and shown in many contemporary photos of the Market Garden   operation.

The model is a superb resin and metal kit made by Warlord, which include the four-man crew as presented here and a nice decal sheet of the 1^st Airborne.

In addition to painting, the most challenging aspect of this entry for me has been untangling and understanding how the British war-era vehicles marking systems worked, especially for the lighter vehicles.

After much researching and gazing in Internet I found a couple of interesting sites that I share now you.

The first is a real and amazing trove of information called “Arnhem Jim”, curated by a  retired US Naval officer. In 2012 he posted a very detailed and well research report on how the Bren Carriers and the Jeeps brought by the British Airlanding Division were marked. Lots of original sources and contemporary photos, quite inspiring to provide authenticity for a project like mine.

The second source is this short but very clarifying video in YouTube made by Fog of War called Understanding British Vehicle Markings.

Finally, the Flames of War website  has extensive documentation about the different British Armour units like for example the post on the 11th Armoured Division linked here.

All models have been painted using my recently acquired skills with the airbrush, a fantastic tool to reach a new painting level; I know airbrushing can be fearsome for many but I can assure you that it is easier than you may think and, if I regret something, is not to have tried it before. 

These models also have been my first attempt to use AK pigments for the weathering phase. I may have gone too far is some cases but I found the final result to be more "natural" than my previous attempts with piants using the dry-brushing technique. As with the airbrush, I strongly advise wargame painters to test and experiment with the pigments, don't be afraid. 

Finally, my score for this entry would be calculated as follows:

Bonus round 50 points

Humber 20 points

Cromwell  20 points

Airborne Jeep 20 points + 4 x 5 points crew = 40

Total: 130 points

I don't know if the trailer and the tank and Humber crews will also merit addditional points, so I'll leave this to the discretion of Lord Campbell of the Snow.

I hope you enjoy the work presented today and find the references useful for some of your projects.

'Reconnaissance' from GuyB: Afrika Korps Sdkfz 222

This challenge, I've decided to focus on my Afrika Korps collection, as well as polish off some odds and ends from my collection.

My desert war project has been idle for too long. I'd originally collected a large force in 20mm when I was a teenager, but the entire lot was thrown out by my father when I was eighteen.

My entry for the bonus theme is a Rubicon Sdkfz 222 in 1/56. This highly detailed model was good fun to build but did have quite a few stages to it. However, I've seen a few alternative 222's and the extra detail is worth it.

Next on the painting desk is some Afrika Korps armour (in the form of a Panzer III and Marder III, both Warlord) and transport (a Henschell Type 33 from Minairons). I also plan a Panzer III from Rubicon with all the hatches open. Here's some work in progress (expect finished pics later this month).

This has a select grey wash before being dry brushed sand.

Here is the basic work on the Henschell. Following on from the vehicles, I'll need some infantry painted.

So for this entry. I estimate 20 points plus 50 bonus points for 70 in total.

'Reconnaissance' from JasperO: 28mm Panzer II Ausf. L "Luchs"

Ahhh, coincidences... Having played a few games of What a Tanker with more or less regular tanks, thoughts turned to more extreme vehicles. Glass cannons (Nashorn anyone?), ones that require different tactics (an Archer has been base coated) and I figured a Luchs would be fun too. You know, to race around in World of Tanks style. One Warlord Games resin Luchs duly appeared in the mail (thanks for arranging that, Guy!).

Having Reconnaissance as a bonus theme thus was a wonderful case of serendipity, as the Luchs was used as such late in WW2. Even more so because I tend to spend the first two weeks or so of the Challenge at my in-laws in the US. I've got paint there, brushes, and the minis go into a foam box, but I can't very well bring lots of basing materials. Flock and static grass in opened bags don't make for travelling companions, I think. I thus can't properly finish any of the minis I paint while here. A vehicle though, doesn't strictly need basing! I can earn points while on vacation. Isn't that grand?

The resin model is very nice, though I was less enamoured with the banana-style gun barrel. As I was sure that even careful straightening wouldn't a) never really work and b) would work only until I next touched it, I replaced the barrel with some thin brass tube. The crewman is from the Perry tank crew set, and is really for the Afrika Korps, but you know, black covers everything... I applied a dunkelgelb base coat with the airbrush, but, as that particular tool is at home, painted the rest by hand, including the Balkenkreuz and numbers. Pretty pleased with how it turned out! Now to see how it performs on the table!

'Reconnaissance' from MilesR: British Staghound Armored Car

 My submission for the Recon Bonus Round is a rather simple model of a British Staghound Armored Car (model T17E1) in 28mm scale.

The model is a resin cast kit from Blitzkreig Miniatures.  The casting is excellent but I always have some trouble with Blitzkrieg models getting paint to adhere even after washing all the parts thoroughly.  I'm sure it's something I'm doing wrong but its enough of a hassle to get me to shy away from further purchases of the line.

 I went with a bog standard olive drab with some of my "special" mud mix for weathering.  I'm also trying out a new formula of black wash, which I like so far.

 Just under 4,000 Staghounds were produced by the UK during the war.  The original design was created by the American car company Chevrolet as part of a competition in the US for a new armored car design.  The M8 Greyhound won out and the T17 was offered to the Brits to be produced under lend lease licensing.

Originally intended for the desert, production delays meant the first real use was in Italy where the width of the vehicle proved very inconvenient on the narrow Italian roads.  The vehicle saw a lot of post war service where it proved to be more effective for anti-guerrilla operations.  26 Staghounds made their way to Cuba from Israel via Nicaragua in the early 80's.

This is my second staghound in 28mm.  I'll probably pick up another one down the line to complete a platoon.

'Reconnaissance' from PaulSS: Sd.kfz. 231 (8-rad)

Reconnaissance 
a preliminary survey to gain information
especially : an exploratory military survey of enemy territory

I was rather at a loose end for what to do for this bonus round, I'm trying to concentrate my focus on the Hundred Years War collection and did not have anything suitable for that, likewise for the American Civil War collection, I could have done a cavalry patrol but did not have any spare figures that would do for what I wanted.

However, buried in the pile of shame was this Sd. Kfz, 231 (8-rad) that I had taken in trade a few years ago. It was much unloved and missing a few bits, for example, I fashioned the 20mm cannon from a spare Perry Miniatures medieval spear and the hatches are clipped from cereal box cardboard.

There was also a tatty base-coat of Panzer Grey so this was cleaned up and re-applied then the whole lot was given a wash with 'Secret Weapon Soft Body Black'. Once that was dried I painted in the panels using Vallejo German Grey, then added a couple of highlights by adding successively more Neutral Grey. The wheels and tools were picked out and then a couple of Balkenkreuz decals added.

The crewman had a 'rush-job' and was stuck in the turret.

This thing is a beast, it's cast in white metal and while doing the decals I put it on the scales - it came in at over 350 grams! There was no way this was not going to get a magnetised base, otherwise put in a box with any other figures the slightest slip would result in carnage. So I grabbed a Warbases 120mm x 60mm and textured it and painted it Field Drab then drybrushed with Iraqi Sand then Pale Sand.

The armoured car was then glued onto the base with copious amounts of superglue and I went to town to muck it all up with a Tamiya weathering kit.

I wondered what to do with the base then remembered that I has some Noch wild-grass foliage, so as my little joke decided that an armoured car the size of a bus should be trying to hide in the long grass.

Schwerer Panzerspähwagen translates as "heavy armoured reconnaissance vehicle" I don't see it as much of a stealth approach!

It's a pretty horrible model, but an hour or so work has taken about a pound of metal out of the lead mountain.

'Reconnaissance' by StuartL: Guards Armoured Division Recce Carrier

My entry for the Reconnaissance bonus round is a (slightly) converted Bren Carrier from the British Guards Armoured Division from late WW2. The conversion is the removal of the Bren in the front passenger position and the addition of a heavier .50cal machine gun on a pintle mount. I've always loved the Bren Carrier, it is such a quirky little vehicle. As a kid, my local museum (The Durham Light Infantry Museum, sadly now closed I believe)  had a Bren Carrier that you could climb in/on, even as a 10 year old I thought it was a cramped fit. The thought of soldiers zipping around a battlefield in one of those things is quite scary.

The Bren was one of the most common AFV's during WW2 and were used for just about every role going. The 1st Battalion of the Grenadier Guards were the Motor Battalion for 5 Guards Armoured Brigade and provided infantry support for the tanks of the brigade. The British never made much use out of the pintle mounted .50 calibre machine guns provided with the Shermans, regarding them as too risky for use by the tank commander, so the crews removed them. In some cases, these spare guns made it into the hands of the Motor Battalion in the brigade. Carrier crews tried all sorts of upgrades to their on board weapons, though they were all unofficial.

I haven't seen any direct evidence for a .50 Cal being used by the Guards, though there are pictures online of Canadian and New Zealand carriers so equipped. Supposedly the motor battalions in other brigades also upgraded where they could, so I can see no particular reason why the Guards should be different.

The model itself is a Tamiya 1/48 scale plastic kit, painted with Vallejo products and weathering effects. All of the decals came with the kit. The .50 cal comes from a Sherman kit (appropriately) and there are a couple of pieces of stowage that are from a Tamiya accessory sprue.

I'm not sure how many points this should be, it's not a big vehicle after all.