(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Konflikt '47" December 2016

"Secrets Of The Third Reich WIPs - The regular British infantryman is almost finished already

This month's randomly themed attempt to try and reduce my ever-increasing mountain of metal, plastic and resin models has been somewhat surprisingly superseded by an impulse purchase of a rule-book at last month's "Warfare" wargames show in Reading, and a subsequent rummage through a box of partially painted miniatures which has stood unattended for a couple of years. Consequently I intend to try and dedicate myself for the next few weeks to a batch of "Secrets Of The Third Reich" figures by "West Wind Productions" and some 'World War Two' models by "Warlord Games", in order to be able field a couple of 'sizeable' forces suitable for "Konflikt '47".

Indeed, as far as previously painted "West Wind Productions" miniatures are concerned, I already own enough 'Weird War Two' figures to deploy a minimum-sized 199 point German reinforced platoon for the "standalone game inspired by the hugely successful Bolt Action"; one which contains both a Leutnant and his two Wehrmacht Infantry Squads, as well as seven "animated corpses of the Totenkorps...

A basic "Konflikt '47" reinforced German platoon, with accompanying Totenkorps Squad

Disappointingly however, I do not yet currently own quite enough finished "Secrets Of The Third Reich" models to field a similarly-sized British contingent. Although I am only short of a single (regular) Tommy equipped with a carbine rifle, and two red beret-wearing, identically-armed, members of the Airborne Infantry.

As a result of these slightly frustrating omissions I am initially focusing the majority of my attention upon three of "West Wind Productions" characterful Commando sculpts, two of which have had their Gas Mask heads swapped for British Para Heads in Berets with Gas Masks. Eager to play my first game of "Konflikt '47" these figures have already all been based, primed and worked upon, with my 'missing' regular Infantryman already close to completion.

British Matilda Mark I Infantry Tank WIP - The vehicle needs to be based before much more work can be done 

One of the real attractions of Chris Hale's alternative World War rule-set is the fact that players can additionally also utilise any of the ('historically accurate') units found within the "Bolt Action" Army books. This has rather inevitably led to me returning to an 'old' metal and resin "Warlord Games" model of a British Matilda Mark I Infantry Tank I actually started painting for a game of "Savage Worlds" a couple of years ago.

Having dusted off "the first of the infantry tank concepts to see production and combat", I have given the 'slow and under-gunned' motor vehicle a generous double-coat of "Vallejo" Heavy Green, and started work on both its turret-mounted Vickers heavy machine gun and accompanying commander. Unfortunately, I don't though currently own any more of the "Games Workshop" 120mm x 92mm oval bases I predominantly super-glue such transports upon, so once I've finished painting its underbelly I'll have to wait until my new stands arrive through the post before I can make any more progress on it.

The Mausoleum WIPs - Three long-dead swordsmen in various states of completion

Such a 'healthy' obsession with "Goblin Clockwork Miniatures" brainchild and all of its 'Weird War' shenanigans does not however, mean that I have forgotten my plans to paint ten skeletons with which to re-enact The Mausoleum scenario from the "Frostgrave" rule-book, and I have still been busily putting pigment to plastic on the first three of my Undead warriors by "North Star Military Figures". Indeed, I have even found time to locate a number of old "Games Workshop" Dwarven shield emblems with which to decorate the bony antagonist's rather bare and formerly uninteresting wooden shields.