Space Marine Sternguard Veteran Squad - Part One

After some considerable time 'picking away' at this particular 28mm plastic and resin model, I've finally completed the first of five "semi-finished" "Games Workshop" Sternguard Veteran Space Marines I bought off of Ebay at the start of the month. Initially I was planning to simply go with the original dark green Sons Of Horus Legion paint scheme their former owner had started to apply.

However as these Adeptus Astartes would seem to be equipped with weaponry far more in line with "Warhammer 40K" than the "Horus Heresy" era I've instead decided to paint the squad as part of the First Compnay of the Ultramarines Chapter instead. This would also explain why, to honour the history of their glorious predecessors, they're wearing the old ("Forgeworld") Mark IV helmets of former veteran Ultramarines and give me a good excuse to paint them white as opposed to the Chapter's usual deep blue.

As with the majority of my models, especially infantry, I started painting the miniature from the feet up. This actually meant I first had to remove it from the 'converted' cork base it had been previously glued upon (in order to represent the model standing atop a large slate boulder) and then flock its new 25mm round base with my usual combination of "Games Workshop" Citadel Sand and some finer grained "Hornby" ballast, bought from a local Train hobby shop.

 The model's power armour was coated in two layers of "Vallejo" Heavy Blue and was originally treated to a wash of Blue Shade. However I disliked the minimal effect the 'Lavado Azul' had, so changed it for a coat of "Citadel" Asurmen Blue. For the gold areas, such as eagles and shoulder armour plates, I used my usual technique of applying a double layer of "Vallejo" Gold upon an undercoat of "Citadel" Doombull Brown and then gave them a heavy wash of Devlan Mud. In order to re-paint the purity seals quickly, I simply painted them using "Vallejo" Heavy Red with a glaze of "Citadel" Bloodletter and "Vallejo" White with a wash of "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. I also applied "Vallejo" White to the space marine's helmet, shoulder pads and loincloth. These were then washed with Pale Grey. Finally all the silver/metal areas were painted using an old pot of "Citadel" Boltgun Metal and then washed with Badab Black.

I'm reasonably happy with how this 'test' model has come out, but have been looking to replace the space marine's combat knife with something a bit meatier; especially as I see this model as being the squad sergeant. I've even considered purchasing an actual box of Sternguard from "Games Workshop" in order to both obtain a more substantial close combat weapon for this figure and also build a more obvious sergeant model complete with helmet plume and powerfist. However the thought of then needing to paint up an additional five more Sternguard, in order to make the financial investment of such a purchase worthwhile, has proven rather off-putting. Instead I'll be looking in bargain bins and may well consider cutting the knife hand off at the wrist and magnetising the join so I can add a chainsword or powersword in the future.

In the meantime I'm concentrating on completing the gold badges and shoulder pads of three more 28mm metal figures from the "Judge Dredd" range by "Mongoose Publishing".

LRDG/SAS Dismounted Patrol - Part One

This small base of 15mm models is something of a surprise posting as I've had little inclination to paint any "Battlefront Miniatures" for a while. However, having pulled out a small box of twenty semi-finished figures from the "Flames Of War" blister BR758 LRDG/SAS Dismounted Patrol, I've very quickly managed to 'touch-up' some of their painting and finally base them.

This entire blister was something of an experiment with the "Vallejo" Game paint range and their washes, and were actually undercoated using Heavy Grey as opposed to my normal "Coat D'Arms" Black; albeit it I did use the "Citadel" colours Abaddon Black and (old) Skull White as opposed to their "Vallejo" alternatives.

Both soldiers' skin was painted with Heavy Skintone before being washed with Fleshtone Shade. Any dark brown/leather areas were then painted with Heavy Sienna before both these areas, and any Heavy Grey and Heavy Brown ones, were washed with Umber Shade. The white areas were washed with Pale Grey but then darkened further with a little heavily watered-down "Citadel" Adeptus Grey. Finally their machine guns were painted using "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey and Black Shade.

Whilst I appreciate these historic special forces are famous for conducting numerous raids throughout the North African Campaign, I didn't want to apply a sandy/desert theme to their bases, as that would mean painting and basing another load of scenery similarly. As a result I've based them with my normal 'European grassland' colours.

As a complete contrast I've also finished my initial "Vallejo" Heavy Blue undercoat on two more of my Ultramarines Sternguard "Warhammer 40K" models by "Games Workshop". As you can hopefully see these Veteran Space Marines are absolutely covered in intricate details... and will therefore doubtless prove very time-consuming to paint.

In Need Of Repair - Part One

Back in 2007 I started to paint a small Black Templar Space Marines Force in an attempt to learn the rules for "Warhammer 40K". Ultimately the project didn't really amount to much more than my painting a handful of Adeptus Astartes, a vehicle and one of my favourite "Games Workshop" models, albeit an expensive miniature even way back then, the Emperor's Champion.

Now despite my Sixth Edition of "Warhammer 40K" still remaining undisturbed within its cellophane wrapping, I have recently fancied gaming with some Space Marines using the "Savage Worlds" "Science Fiction Companion" setting, and as a result have started painting up a five-man Ultramarines Sternguard squad. As a result I've stumbled across a small cardboard box containing my old Black Templar Force and thinking it would be ever so simple to just re-base them (in order to better tie-in with the current basing scheme I use for all my models and scenery) I've set to work on them in order to do just that.

Unfortunately time has not been kind to these models, especially my Emperor's Champion, despite having spent much of the intervening years tucked away in the dark. As you can see, my quick and easy 'all-over black' colour scheme has robbed the model of many of its finer details, the super-glue connecting his backpack has perished and failed, and several scratches have scraped off the paintwork... especially along the length of his fabled black power sword. Plus the model is old enough to hark back to the days when I 'protected' all my paint jobs with a coat of PVA glue.  

As a result I thought I'd post up a small series of updates as to how I get along renovating these "Games Workshop" models, in the hope that one day they'll stand shoulder to shoulder with their Ultramarines brother space marines on the tabletop. 

In the meantime I'm also continuing to make some progress in working my way through some more "Mongoose Publishing" models from their "Judge Dredd" range.

"I Gotta Stop This Lawbreaker!"

I've painted another of my old "Mongoose Publishing" Street Judge models and, to be honest, it's proved the most challenging of their "Judge Dredd" range I've yet encountered. Certainly it's the first where I've found it necessary to get creative with green stuff and actually 'sculpt' some straps onto one of the model's knee and elbow pads. Perhaps that explains why the sculpt for the Female Street Judge on both the "Mongoose Publishing" and "Warlord Games" websites would now appear to be a completely different model to this one? Is it already out of production, as I have a spare?

As with my previous Judge models I simply painted the majority of her uniform with "Coat D'Arms" Black, and then used the combinations of "Vallejo" Heavy Grey with "Citadel" Thrakka Green for her knee pads, boots, gloves, belt and elbow pads, and "Vallejo" Gold with "Citadel" Devlan Mid for her belt buckle, badge and chain, should pad and shoulder eagle.

Having taken a brief evening's break away from painting, though not the painting table, I've based up some possible opposition for my growing Judge force, and settled upon these models as potential criminal 'wild cards' for the "Savage Worlds" "Science Fiction Companion" setting I plan to use them for. Strangely, I think one of the Punks with a heavy weapon (not the one with the heavy spit gun) has now also been replaced by "Mongoose Publishing" for a slimmer model carrying a missile launcher?

Ground Zero Games Xenomorphs - Part Two

I've finished painting another three 15mm models from the several packets I bought from "Ground Zero Games" at the Colours Wargaming Show in 2013. As before these aliens are all from their six-figure bag SG15-X01 Xenomorphs and were reasonably quick to complete by simply drybrushing "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey over a "Coat D'Arms" Black undercoat. The models were then washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

I'm especially pleased with two of these models as I originally over dry-brushed them with heavy bluegrey, so not even the heaviest of Nuln Oil washes could help soften the contrast between the grey and black. As a result I dropped the pair of them into some methylated spirit for a few days before stripping them of their paint with a scouring pad, modelling knife and an old toothbrush. Even then I wasn't wholly successful in my efforts to remove some of the paint from the models' deeper recesses, so had to resort to applying the thinnest of black undercoats upon them.    

I've also super-glued them on some old "Battlefront Miniatures" stands I own as opposed to the (far larger) 40mm x 60mm plastic rectangle I attached their predecessors. I still plan for them to be used with the "Science Fiction Companion" setting for "Savage Worlds", but it dawned on me that the smaller sizes would give me greater flexibility in deploying and moving the miniatures. In addition, at such time as I paint some "Flames Of War" models, then I'll be in a position to consider British S.A.S. verses Alien infestation. Needless to say now also I've re-based my earlier Xenomorphs as well.

I plan to start a painting challenge at the beginning of April which in essence will mean painting a small(ish) collection of models each week for a few months. As the content and scale of each weekly challenge will entirely depend upon the turn of a playing card I've already started prepping and doing a little preliminary painting on some "Mongoose Publishing" "Judge Dredd" models in anticipation of needing to finish ten 28mm models within a week. 

In addition I'm also 'soldiering on' with the first (of five) "Games Workshop" Ultramarine Sternguard. With the exception of the "Warhammer 40K" space marine's back pack I've almost finished (and washed) all of the veteran's gold and blue areas and now essentially just have a few "Vallejo" Pale Grey washes to apply to his power armour's shoulder pads and helmet.

British Commando Carbine - Part One

This 28mm metal model is the first of four similar-looking models from the "West Wind Productions" blister B-SOTR05 British Commando Carbines. It's actually one of eight such miniatures I've currently got sat on my painting table, an entire British Infantry Section, but to be honest, is probably one of the last "Secrets Of The Third Reich" figures I plan to paint for the foreseeable future as I fear I'm rather worn out gaming "Weird War Two" at present.

KrautScientist has just posted a good article on the Dark Future Games website about such painting blocks; albeit he seems to have completely sold his soul to the chaos gods of the "Warhammer 40K" universe as a result. The post can be found here: http://darkfuturegaming.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/cleansing-palate-with-nurgle.html.

In order to try and step away from many of the now 'out of production' "Citadel" Foundation paints I originally used for my British Army colour scheme, I have tried to replace some of the old pots with "Vallejo" alternatives. Essentially though the model was painted using my 'tried and tested' method of "Coat D'Arms" Black undercoat with a combination of "Citadel" Dark Flesh and Devlan Mud wash for the majority of the soldier's uniform. I also still have some Calthan Brown for the bullet proof vest. However for the carbine rifle butt I went with "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and then Heavy brown for the weapon's strap. I've also now settled on "Heavy Grey" for the infantryman's gas mask filter. All of these paints are then washed with "Citadel" Devlan Mud.

 I've now completely turned to the latest "Savage Worlds" setting, the "Science Fiction Companion" and as a result super-glued and based a handful more models from the "Judge Dredd" miniature range by "Mongoose Publishing". I've actually gone with some of the newer models from their Kickstarter as they look far more 'painter-friendly' than the older figures I've recently painted. 

Wargame Model Mods - WIP - Part Three

I've finally finished basing the first of my commercial style buildings by "Wargame-Model-Mods". In order to 'tie it' in with my model collection, I simply based the wooden building in exactly the same way as I do my miniatures; drybrushing "Citadel" Doombull Brown and Rakarth Flesh over a "Coat D'Arms" Black undercoat, and then washing the entire area with the  "Citadel" Shade Agrax Earthshade. Finally I applied some green flock both in and around the building.

I'm currently waiting for a few larger 9 x 6 inch 2mm MDF bases from "Arcane Scenery & Model Supplies" for the bigger buildings, so in the meantime I've built and textured three of the smaller ones; including two with tiled ground floors.

In addition I'm continuing to persevere with the intricate details of my first "Games Workshop" "Warhammer 40K" Ultramarine Sternguard model. I've completed all the blue on his space armour, as well as the white of his linen skirt and moved onto the white areas of his enormous shoulder pads.

To keep me sane as a momentary distraction, I've quickly based a third (old) Street Judge by "Mongoose Publishing". Unfortunately, the detail on this miniature is, in parts, the worst yet as I've had to sculpt a (missing) knee-pad strap onto the figure using green stuff. 

Judge Giant Junior

I've managed to finish another of my old "Mongoose Publishing" Street Judge models. Originally I planned to use this 28mm metal miniature to represent the (late) Judge Giant, who first appeared in Prog 27 of the comic "2000 AD". However nowadays you can actually purchase the official Judge Giant figure from "Warlord Games" under code JD20007, so instead he'll be used as Judge Giant's child from the 1989 "2000 AD" story "Young Giant"; arguably "one of the best Judges in Mega-City One."

As with my previous Judge model I simply painted the majority of his uniform with "Coat D'Arms" Black, and then used the combinations of "Vallejo" Heavy Green with "Citadel" Thrakka Green for his knee pads, boots, gloves, belt and elbow pads, and "Vallejo" Gold with "Citadel" Devlan Mid for his belt buckle, badge and chain, should pad and shoulder eagle.

I must admit I really found this model hard work as some of its sculpting, or rather lack of, made painting the miniature quite difficult. Indeed some elements of the model actually appear unfinished, such as the underside of the figure's right elbow pad or the (lack of) detail on the 'squished' lawgiver.

Something which certainly doesn't lack detail is the first of my five "Games Workshop" plastic Sternguard with "Forge World" helmets. I've now gone with an Ultramarines colour scheme, all the better to fight off the Tyranid threat, and am slowly working my way up - hence the blue ink work on the model's left lower leg.

Wargame Model Mods - WIP - Part Two

Having waited long enough for its coat of "Citadel" Foundation Astronomican Grey to dry, I've given my entire first "Wargame-Model-Mods" commercial style building a healthy wash of Nuln Oil and, on the flooring and around the exterior buttresses, some  Agrax Earthshade; the later really helping to bring out some of the tiling detail etched onto the floor.

I've then spent some time drybrushing the building with more Astronomican Grey using an old "Royal & Langnickel" number six round brush. I'm really glad I managed to resist the temptation to 'base' the building prior to this stage of the painting.

Once finished I've sealed the entire building with a coat of PVA glue, and, having used "Gale Force Nine" green stuff basic epoxy sculpting putty to provide a better fit on the bottom of the buttresses, used more PVA to secure it to a six inch square 2mm MDF base from "Arcane Scenery & Model Supplies".

I've actually found myself rather losing focus on my painting over the past few days. This usually occurs because I've lost interest in my main project and start getting far too distracted with the mini-projects I tend to turn to as simple diversions. This isn't actually too much of a surprise as I've been predominantly painting models for my "Savage Worlds" "Weird War Two" setting for two months, and that usually is the limit of my 'don't start buying a load of new shiny lead minis for a different game' discipline. As a result I've found my painting table swamped with models from "Mongoose Publishing", "Forgeworld", "Games Workshop", Wizkids", West Wind Productions", "Ground Zero Games", "Pendraken" and even some 1/72 "Zvezda" plastics, as well as large amounts of scenery from "Ainsty", "Snapdragon" and "Minibits".

I've therefore returned the majority of these models back to their respective cardboard boxes and plastic containers, and with the exception of a couple of old(er) "Mongoose Publishing" models from their Judge Dredd range and eight "Secrets Of The Third Reich" British Infantrymen, plan to turn most of my attention prior to Salute 2014 to the "Forgeworld" converted Space Marine (now Ultramarines) Sternguard I recently purchased from Ebay.co.uk.

German Mech Grenadier Mechbusch

I'm continuing to crack on painting the two dozen or so 28mm models from "West Wind Productions" I want to complete prior to Salute 2014. This German Mech Grenadier is one of the two models found in the "Secrets Of The Third Reich" blister G-SOTR27 Mechbusch Team. The other model from this packet is actually sculpted carrying a GWHER 45 automatic rifle, so I've based him in preparation for painting him as part of a Waffen-SS (Early War) squad.

As with the majority of my Heer infantrymen, I painted the soldier's uniform and helmet with a combination of "Citadel" Adeptus Battlegrey and Nuln Oil, and his bullet proof vest with Calthan Brown and Devlan Mud. To make the figure's anti-tank rifle stand out I painted the barrel Boltgun Metal and Nuln Oil and the rest of the weapon with an old pot of Terracotta (with a wash of Devlan Mud).

In the meantime I've also turned to another out of production "Citadel" paint pot, the Foundation colour Astronomican Grey, and applied a coat of it over my first Commercial Style 28mm scale wood building by "Wargame-Model-Mods".

Wargame Model Mods - WIP - Part One

One of my purchases, having attended two Wargaming Events in eight days, has been a bag of 10 Commercial Style Buildings by "Wargame-Model-Mods". These 28mm scale wooden buildings have been a joy to construct and easily slotted together with just a little PVA glue. Indeed I've already ordered a second bag from "Pendraken Miniatures" "Minibits" webstore.

Over the next few weeks, as part of a build-up to "Salute 2014", I plan to construct, paint and base a nice collection of these buildings in order to be able to completely populate my 5' x 3' table.

Despite there being some details etched onto the buildings' tiled floors, the models themselves are rather bare. I've therefore also bought a large pot of "Vallejo" Black Lava. This "heavy paste of natural stone and black pigment" should help create the illusion that my buildings are made of concrete, as opposed to wood; especially once I paint them grey and give them a black wash.

I'm also progressing on another blister of B-SOTR05 British Commando Carbines by "West Wind Productions". These "Secrets Of The Third Reich" 28mm metal miniatures will form half the second section of infantry I want to be able to field to properly game the 'Fall Of France' with "Savage Worlds". 

German Mech Grenadier Flamethrower

I've finished painting the first of two 28mm metal models found in the "West Wind Productions" blister G-SOTR34 German Flamethrowers. As with the majority of my models I first undercoated the miniature with "Coat D'Arms" Black and then painted the soldier's trousers and shirt with my usual combination of "Citadel" Foundation Adeptus Battlegrey and Nuln Oil. As I wanted the Heer Infantryman's flame-proof overcoat to slightly stand out from my German Army's usual grey colour scheme, I painted it using "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey before also washing these areas with "Citadel" Nuln Oil. Finally I used "Vallejo" Heavy brown" for the soldier's thick gloves and the straps on his tanks. 

As with the recent British PIAT gunner, I was tempted to simply paint this model's weapon entirely with "Citadel" Boltgun Metal and Nuln Oil. But having viewed some colour photographs of actual German flamethrowers in action, I eventually settled on using "Vallejo" Heavy Green followed by a wash of "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade for the flammable liquid tanks and main body of the incendiary device and just painted the nozzle with Boltgun Metal.

Over the next few days I hope to find time to start work on a mini-project involving these "Games Workshop" Sons Of Horus Sternguard Space Marines. They've just arrived having been something of a bargain on Ebay, especially as they come complete with "Forge World" Mark IV helmets - which alone seem to cost a pretty penny on the internet.

As you can see the models have arrived having already been glued together, undercoated and even had some green paint applied to certain areas. Having sought inspiration from the "Forge World" Horus Heresy painters guide and some interesting colour schemes I've seen on other blogs, these models will all be repainted to include gold armour plating and trimming, as well as red gloves and bolters. It's a pity these models weren't additionally converted with Sons Of Horus Mark IV shoulder pads but hopefully the paint scheme alone will pull them together as a single unit of the XVI Legion.

British Soldier With Piat - Part One

This is one of four models which can be found within the "Secrets Of The Third Reich" blister B-SOTR08 Piat D's. To be honest I'm not sure I'll actually paint any more of the models from the "West Wind Productions" pack for the foreseeable future as I only plan to field one such British Anti-Tank Team for my games of "Weird War Two".

In keeping with my British Army paint scheme I used "Citadel" Doombull Brown for the soldier's uniform and helmet, and Calthan Brown for their bullet-proof vest. I then washed all of these areas with Agrax Earthshade.

Originally I simply painted the Projector Infantry Anti-Tank weapon Boltgun Metal and applied a Nuln Oil wash to it. But from the tabletop this made the tank killer appear little different to the rest of the gunner's section. So I later applied a coat of "Vallejo" Heavy Green and wash of "Citadel" Thrakka Green" all over the weapon, leaving only the spigot bomb itself a dull metallic silver.

In the meantime I've wilted once again and started to paint another of my old "Mongoose Publishing" Street Judges as a little distraction from the sea of British brown and German grey miniatures I currently have parading upon my painting table.

British Soldier With Sten - Part One

I've finished the first of four models from the "Secrets Of The Third Reich" blister B-SOTR04 Sten-B. I actually plan to use these 28mm metal miniatures from "West Wind Productions" as part of my Mid/Late War infantry sections when playing "Savage Worlds" "Weird War Two".

Unfortunately all the other soldiers I've previously completed for my British Army were painted predominantly using either the former "Citadel" Foundation paint range or even older colours. As a result, and in order to try and best match the soldier's uniform to my old paint scheme, I've had to turn to some new "Citadel" and "Vallejo" alternatives.

The model's uniform and tin helmet were therefore painted with "Citadel" Doombull Brown and washed with Agrax Earthshade in order to provide a close approximation to the old Dark Flesh and Devlan Mud combination I once used. Luckily I also found an old usable pot of Calthan Brown, so was able to paint the soldier's bullet-proof vest with exactly the same colour I used for the rest of his section a couple of years ago. Slightly disappointingly though I was unable to find an ideal match for the trooper's green gas mask filter so went with a mix of "Vallejo" Heavy Grey" and "Agrax Earthshade".

Having momentarily set aside the rest of the models I need to paint for a second British Early War infantry section, I'm putting the finishing touches on a German flammenwerfer and finally starting the initial layers on a Panzerabwehrbuchse.

Jagerhund Doberman

This large 28mm "West Wind Productions" miniature is actually the fourth of their "Secrets Of The Third Reich" were-creatures I've painted. Its completion will allow us to include a random d4 Were-creature distraction as a possible horror event in our "Savage Worlds" games of "Weird War Two".

The model is from the single-figure pack G-SOTR18 Jagerhund Doberman and as you can imagine, despite its size, was reasonably simple to paint. Having undercoated the model with "Coat D'Arms" Black, I picked out some of the usual light brown fur markings found on a Doberman Pinscher with "Vallejo" Heavy Brown and tried to blend them into the rest of the animal's hide with numerous washes of "Citadel" Devlan Mud and Agrax Earthshade. The were-dog's teeth were simply drawn in with "Vallejo" white and left unwashed in order to better stand out. The beast's trousers were simply painted using "Vallejo" Heavy grey with a heavy wash of "Citadel" Thrakka Green.

I've currently got my head down painting some additional British and German weapon attachments to my existing "Weird War Two" Infantry squads for a series of big games this weekend. In addition to this man-portable anti-tank weapon, I hope to finish both a German flame-thrower and anti-tank rifle.

"You Can't Bribe A Judge"

I've finally finished an old "Mongoose Publishing" Street Judge model which has frankly spent a couple of years sat upon one of my shelves half-painted. I actually purchased this 28mm metal miniature direct from 'Mongoose Matt', where as nowadays it can also be purchased as part of the two-figure blister JD107 Street Judges via "Warlord Games".

I've had a bit of debate with fellow wargamers as to whether the colour of Judge uniforms is actually pure black or a dark blue (as depicted in many of Judge Dredd's comic adventures). I must confess to originally trying to go with the dark blue 'highlight' idea, but quickly found the model a bit too cumbersome for my painting quality to do such a colour scheme justice, so I quite quickly reverted to the much easier and quicker "Coat D'Arms" Black for the uniform.

After a bit of trial and error I then went with "Vallejo" Heavy Grey with a "Citadel" Thrakka Green wash for the boots, knee pads, elbow pads, gloves and belt. For the Judge's belt buckle, badge and chain, shoulder pad, shoulder eagle and helmet badge I used "Vallejo" Gold with a wash of tried and trusted "Citadel" Devlan Mud". Although I initially undercoated all the gold areas with Dark Flesh in order to help the gold paint's pigment coverage. The helmet's red trimming I painted using "Vallejo" Heavy Red and a glaze of "Citadel" Bloodletter. The lawgiver was simply Boltgun Metal with a wash of Nuln Oil.

I've now finished buying and basing all but a couple of the models by "West Wind Productions" which I plan to currently paint for my "Savage Worlds" "Weird War Two" setting. As I've previously mentioned although we'll be using the "Savage Worlds" rules and equipment statistics, we've turned to the "Bolt Action" Army Lists by "Warlord Games" for our Force's composition and will be using the lists from the Blitzkrieg 1940 - Fall/Battle of France threatre.

As a result I've a second unit of ten British Regular Infantry to paint up over the next few days, before I turn my attention to a Waffen-SS (Early War) squad to accompany my Heer Infantry squad. I've also got a few 'attachments' to paint as well, such as some Germans equipped with an Anti-tank rifle, a flamethrower and some submachine guns, as well as British soldiers armed with Piats and submachine guns (in order for us to quickly move our threatre of operations to Normandy 1944).