Slow (ish) grow league for Flames of War V4

So, I have finally got together my two smaller forces and need to prioritise these.

Below are te two images of the forces listed in a previous entry.

Some obviously need more work then the others, but at least I have now gathered the forces together.

Using the Colours of War book, I am hoping some of the painting will be sped up.

One question for anyone more knowledgable than I am:

With the U.S list for example, I have the Armoured Rifle Platoon. The unit is 4 Garand bases, 2 LMG bases, 4 bazookas and one mortar for a total of 11 bases. Have the command bases been removed completely from forces unless they are an Infantry list and led by them like the German list I have made or should the Command base be in the unit automatically? I think it has been removed, but want to check. Thanks in advance. 🙂

I don’t really have many pics to show progress, or at least none I am comfortable showing at this moment in time, but… where am I?

Well, I am still trying to come up with solid 50pt lists for both sides, but think I am getting somewhere close to workable forces.

U.S.

Sherman HQ (Vet) – 2x Sherman (75mm) – 9 pts
M4 Sherman (75mm) (Vet) – 3 Shermans – 13 pts
M4 Sherman (76mm) (Vet) – 3 Shermans – 16 pts
Armoured Rifle Platoon (Reg) – 11 stands + 4 halftracks – 12 pts

German

Panzer Grenadier HQ – 2 Inf – 2 pts
Panzer Grenadier Platoon – 5 stands – 7 pts
Armoured Panzer Grenadier Platoon – 5 stands + 3 halftracks – 9 pts
Stug Platoon – 2 StuG + 1 StuH – 16 pts
Panzer IV Platoon – 3x Panzer IV – 16 pts

Both forces have infantry and armour. I was thinking about artillery but will probably add them in the next stretch. My gut feeling is the Germans have the edge as they have 5 platoons, however the US are rocking out with more tanks and more infantry…

So, painting-wise. I have done some hard-edge camo on one of the Panzer IV’s as a test but it looks too “solid” so will look to dry brush some lighter shades on them to bring the colour down a bit and make it look faded and weathered before the weathering steps as I dont think the weathering will dull the browns and greens down enough. German infantry is also being worked on. In regards to the US armour, I have 3 shermans, 3 Stuarts, 3 Priests, 4 M10s in the green awaiting decals and weathering and final details as it is nice and quick to do. I have a load more Shermans primed awaiting the base coat and wash steps.

Fingers crossed in the next update, I will have some pictures to show. 🙂

Well, as the title suggests, I have done a little more building… When I say a little, I mean…

So, even though I still have more to build, I decided I wanted to try my hand at a little “sculpting” project to make a unit of Shermans a little different, so, out came the Milliput and on went some sandbags…

I am pretty sure scale wise they are too big, but I like them and it makes them different to the other troops.

It was nice and easy to do. Milliput into a long thin strand, gently press it down and then cut with a hobby knife. Glue them on and reshape where needed. Simple.

So, while they dried, I decided to prime some minis for painting. Now, I need to wait for payday to get the last paints I need to be able to do a ful painting day, but I do have the paints in to start with some Germans, to, off to the temporary spray-booth…

So, this is the 2 Tigers, 3 Panzer IV, 2 88mm guns, 2 Pak 40’s, 3 Nebs and a platoon of infantry ready to paint. I am not the worlds greatest painter by any stretch so I won’t post shot by shot pics, but will post some when they are finished. 🙂

So, after the bootcamp (which I am still heartbroken I was unable to attend), I too jumped on the bandwagon and started to order my new Flames of War gear.

Opening the Hit the Beaches box, I will admit, I was a little disappointed in the lack of the card terrain and decals/transfers, but I have enough decals for both American and German tanks and the terrain was not a massive issue.

Soon, like the German and American tank factories of the 1940’s, my hobby bench would be filled with powerful armour, ready for combat…

Sadly however… Due to the OTT store and their amazing 20% off offer, one or two more small purchases soon followed…

Ok ok… I admit… My slow grow league has jumped to major league with a number of trimming down tasks, but I hold my hands up. I am not ashamed my wallet suffered and I would do it again in a heartbeat. 😛

So, where am i at time of posting?

So this is where I am so far:

2 StuGs
1 StuH
2 Priests (1 to build)
5 Sherman 75mm (2 to build)
3 Sherman 76mm (3 to build)
3 Stuarts
1 M3 Halftrack (4 to build)
1 Panzer IV (7 to build)
1 88mm AA Gun
2 Tiger I
1 German Grenadier Platoon

Left to build so far:

1 Priests
4 M10’s
2 Sherman 75mm
3 Sherman 76mm
4 M3 Halftrack
7 Panzer IV
1 88mm AA Gun
2 German Grenadier Platoons plus HQ and extras
US Rifle infantry
US Paratrooper infantry

So, still a lot of work to do.

So why am I building the whole lot rather than selecting the units for the points cost? Well, this boils down to two simple answers:

1. I love building the FoW minis and the historical genre so once I started, I just let the flow take me 🙂
2. Options. Why limit myself to one force when I can swap things out to change my force around?