(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Flames Of War” March 2022

"The German strategy was based on defeating any seaborne assault at the water line."

This month's themed attempt to shrink my mountain of metal, plastic and resin models will see me once again focus upon my collection of 15mm World War Two Germans by “Battlefront Miniatures”. I’ve actually been picking away at these “Flames Of War” figures for some considerable time already as I slowly build up my 1944 Beach Defence Company to 50 points. However, I’ve subsequently set my eye upon fielding a much larger 75 point strong force of Panzergrenadiers, artillery and armour, so thought I’d best knuckle down with a paint-brush if they’re to be ready for some games in April.

Furthermore, the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge (AHPC) finishes in a little under three weeks. This should resultantly allow me a little time afterwards to complete some of the half-dozen or so German infantry models I actually started working on before the event started - as having already been partially-painted these soldiers aren’t eligible for submission into the AHPC.

"Warlord Games" WIPs - These Iron Brigade have been primed and had their trousers layered

In conjunction with these sMG34 Machine-guns, MG34/K98 Rifle teams, and Panzer IV tanks, I also intend to work on some more 15mm plastic American Civil War miniatures by “Warlord Games”. In the past I’ve been using these ten-man long strips as practice pieces for the Nottingham-based company’s Napoleonic range. But now actually fancy pigmenting a forty-strong Florida regiment of Confederates to fight alongside my Alabama companies and their Major General, Henry DeLamar Clayton.

Despite apparently being issued with straw hats, these figures should end up being a bit more generic-looking than the time-consuming colour scheme I used on my previous ACW stands, so I’m hoping to get these soldiers finished a bit quicker than my last regiment. Perhaps more surprisingly though, I’ve taken advantage of my Warlord Medals on their website, to pick up a few of their metallic strips of Iron Brigade – so as to see how they compare to their plastic sculpts.

February 2022 - My move to 15mm scale has had a big impact upon my month's output

Productivity wise, the past month saw me at my most prolific for the past three years, as I became increasingly disenchanted with 28mm figures and instead gradually devoted my hobby time to historical models produced in 15mm scale. This has caused me to pigment an entire twenty-man base of ACW Confederates by “Warlord Games”, plus their mounted commander, as well as continue adding to my German Beach Defence Force for “Flames Of War”.

I strongly doubt that this interest in the smaller scales (as I’ve also been dabbling in both 1:285 “Battletech” and 1:10,000 “Battlefleet Gothic” scale) will disappear any time soon either, as I’m getting a lot of satisfaction in completing a handful of miniatures by the end of a single painting session. This situation rarely happens whenever I tackle a 28mm model, and is also slowly helping me develop my batch-painting skills – something I’ve always strongly shied away from when dealing with larger, heroic-sized figures…