“The Stormcrow Was Especially Common During The Clan Invasion…”

"...And was code-named the Ryoken by the warriors of the DCMS who encountered it."

This 1:285 scale plastic model of a Stormcrow is manufactured by “Catalyst Game Labs” and can be bought together with the Dire Wolf, Summoner, Mist Lynx and Shadow Cat in the company’s “Battletech: Clan Command Star” boxed set. All the pre-assembled miniatures in this “supplement to the BattleTech: A Game of Armoured Combat box” come with an assortment of Alpha Strike cards depicting various colour schemes. However, as I plan to employ this particular sculpt as a (second) German Heinkel Flugzeugwerke class War Walker for an upcoming Weird War Two campaign using some homemade rules, I decided to go with a predominantly grey palette.

“Designed by Clan Hell's Horses and debuted during the Battle of Tokasha”, the 38mm tall figure was initially undercoated with “Vallejo” German Fieldgrey WWII, shaded in “Citadel” Nuln Oil, and dry-brushed using (more) “Vallejo” German Fieldgrey WWII. I then ‘picked out’ the second generation OmniMech’s three-toed feet using a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey and “Citadel” Nuln Oil. These areas were later carefully dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Heavy bluegrey.

"Build weapons for the Front."

Having previously later returned to my first, significantly darker grey, Stormcrow and picked out its shoulders using some “Vallejo” Sun Yellow, I thought I would apply a similar palette to this model as well. I therefore brushed a couple of coats of “Vallejo” White to the war walker’s shoulders and a couple of small areas beneath its cockpit as a base colour, before using some “Vallejo” Sun Yellow. These parts were then shaded in “Citadel” Reikland Fleshshade, and very carefully dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Sun Yellow.

Finally, the miniature’s joints, exhaust vents, ER Medium Lasers and SRM-6 launcher were treated to some “Vallejo” Gunmetal and a splash of “Citadel” Nuln Oil. I also pulled out a couple of German crosses from my collection of “Decal Details” and positioned them onto the somewhat flat pieces of armour fronting the miniature’s feet.

"Mongoose Publishing" WIPs - Cadet Judge 1, Cadet Judge 2 and Female Cadet Judge

In addition, I’ve started work on the fourth of my Weekly Challenges, randomly chosen via a deck of playing cards. On this occasion I’ve got to paint a single 28mm miniature, so having been completely caught up by Judge Dredd becoming a playable character in the “Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War” video game, I thought I might finally apply some pigment to an old Cadet Judge I received as part of the infamous Judge Dredd Miniatures Game: Block War Kickstarter by “Mongoose Publishing”.

As a result of scouring through my backlog I actually seem to own five Cadets in total, albeit the one I’ve selected is the only copy of Cadet Judge 2. However, I thought as I was applying a brush tip to one, I might as well see if I can do the same to Cadet Judge 1 and Female Cadet Judge, especially as I’ve been asked to put on a Judge Dredd game at the LVL Up Gaming Store in Bournemouth using what models I’ve previously painted with some homemade rules…

“The Wolverine Was Developed As A Fast Strike BattleMech.”

“One which could take part in missions requiring speed and firepower but too hazardous for lighter recon Mechs.”

This 1:285 scale “high quality” plastic model of a Wolverine is made by “Catalyst Game Labs” and can be bought together with a Griffin in the company’s “BattleTech: Beginner Box”. Both the pre-assembled miniatures also come with an assortment of Record Sheets depicting various colour schemes. But as I plan to use this particular sculpt as a Yakovlev-class Soviet War Walker for an upcoming Weird War Two campaign utilising some homemade rules, I decided to go with a predominantly green palette.

Resultantly, the 44mm tall figure was initially primed using two layers of “Vallejo” Russian Uniform WWII and shaded in “Citadel” Biel-Tan Green. It was then carefully dry-brushed using (more) “Vallejo” Russian Uniform WWII and had its windows ‘picked out’ with a little “Citadel” Abaddon Black. In order to add a bit of interest to the “jack of all trades” I also decided to apply a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Red and “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson to the vehicle’s left fist.

The American Sherman tanks slowly edge forward towards the German Infantry

As a penultimate touch I gave the Wolverine’s right-handed Autocannon (with one ton of ammunition) and its shoulder-mounted six-pack SRM launcher a layer of “Vallejo” Gunmetal, as well as a wash of “Citadel” Nuln Oil. Finally, I decided to search through my collection of “Decal Details” and apply four 1/285 air or 15mm armour Russian Stars to the machine’s shoulder-pads and thighs.

Stepping away from painting, I have managed to get another ‘quick’ game of “Flames Of War” in recently, this time to determine how the World War Two rule-set by “Battlefront Miniatures” works when infantry confront an armoured formation. We only used the “Hit The Beach” Starter Set Quick Start Core Rules, and ignored any formation guidelines to allow us to pitch several 15mm teams (stands) of German Panzergrenadiers against an American Veteran M4 Sherman Tank Platoon.

The German Panzerfaust anti-tank guns finally get within range of the Sherman tanks

The game saw the American tanks advance from behind the safety of a small built up area, and was designed for us to try out the different effective ranges of our various weapons. Needless to say, I was super keen to ascertain just how useful it would prove for my infantry to carry a Panzerfaust anti-tank recoilless gun would be, and establish whether there would ever be a point to my German’s assaulting an armoured target without one.

In brief the conflict was very bloody, with the Sherman’s weapons capable of doing some considerable to infantry if given the option. However, it also quickly became clear that if facing an enemy equipped with anti-tank weaponry, the Shermans desperately needed infantry support. Two of the armoured vehicles were abandoned by their crew and subsequently destroyed in quick order once they came into range of either a Panzerschreck or Panzerfaust. Whilst the third ultimately fled the battlefield despite it easily surviving an assault with just a ‘harmless’ grenade…

“Whilst The Allies Laid Their Plans And Marshalled Their Forces…”

“…The defenders of Hitler’s Atlantikwall, the coastal fortifications of North Western Europe, were not idle.”

These four plastic 15mm miniatures are sold by “Battlefront Miniatures” and can be found inside the company’s “Hit The Beach” starter set for “Flames Of War”. The figures consist of four riflemen. Together they form the final MG34 and K98 Rifle team I require for my (minimum-strength) German Panzergrenadier Platoon.

As with all my other “FoW” German soldiers, the figures were initially super-glued onto wooden strips, before being primed in “Vallejo” German Fieldgrey WWII, shaded using “Citadel” Nuln Oil, and dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” German Fieldgrey WWII. Their details were then ‘picked out’ predominantly using “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna, Gunmetal, Buff, German Camouflage Dark Green, Heavy Brown and a series of “Citadel” Shades.

"Flames Of War" WIPs - The three Riflemen have had all their details 'picked out'

Having already ‘bloodied the nose’ of my Germans recently with a couple of play-tests through the “Hit The Beach” Starter Set Quick Start Core Rules, I’m now focusing upon building a 50-point strong Beach Defence Grenadier Company for some ‘serious wargaming’. This force’s organisation is taken from the excellent D-Day German – Forces In Normandy, 1944 book by “Battlefront Miniatures” and will let me utilise all of the figures I’ve previously painted, plus encourage me to pick up some additional units over time.

For starters, I plan to bolster my first Grenadier Platoon’s MG42 & K98 rifle teams from five stands to its maximum of seven. I actually need two of these platoons to ultimately field a legal Beach Defence force, so at some point will need to pigment a second Unit Leader team mounted on a small base. Then, once I’ve completed eight four-figure stands in total I’ll have the option of deploying two minimum-strength platoons as opposed to just one at full-strength.

"Catalyst Game Labs" - The Stormcrow is slowly having it hull repainted light grey and white

In addition, I’ve started work on the third of my Weekly Challenges, randomly chosen via a deck of playing cards. On this occasion I’ve got to paint a single 2mm-6mm miniature, so thought it would be a good time to complete the second Stormcrow I own by “Catalyst Game Labs”, and resultantly provide my Weird War Two German forces with the option of employing three medium-sized mechs on the battlefield.

I always thought that the original palette I used on my first “second generation OmniMech” was a little too dark for my liking, and indeed have since returned to the model so as to ‘pick out’ its shoulders with some eye-catching yellow. I have therefore gone with a somewhat lighter grey for this second incarnation using some “Vallejo” German Fieldgrey WWII, whilst still replicating the yellow shoulder flashes and light grey feet of the first.

“It Takes More Than A Sceptre To Rule, Xur...”

“…Even on Rylos.”

This 28mm scale metal miniature of an alien invader is produced by “Tangent Miniatures” as code TN23 The Enemy Commander from their Space Warriors range, and consists of a single cast figure. The model makes an excellent proxy for the evil Lord Kril from Nick Castle’s 1984 American space opera film “The Last Starfighter”.

The Kodan was primed using a double-helping of “Vallejo” Heavy Red, shaded using some “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson and dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Heavy Red. I then picked out the extra-terrestrial’s boots, helmet, belt and the front of his officer’s tunic with “Citadel” Abaddon Black. To be honest, I wasn’t too sure about the footwear being non-red, but went with the colour as it made the Armada’s leader stand out a bit more, and matched the colours used on the movie’s never released line of action figures.

The Germans and Americans battle across a stretch of water and an area of woodland

For Lord Kril’s final steps I applied a combination of “Vallejo” Gunmetal” and “Citadel” Nuln Oil to his somewhat elaborate-looking belt buckles, as a little “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna to the alien commander’s lower face. This area was later treated to a splash of Strong Tone Quickshade by “The Army Painter”. Lastly, I went back and re-pigmented the veteran warrior’s retinal tactical screen with a bit more “Vallejo” Heavy Red and “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson.

Stepping away from painting, I have managed to get a couple of ‘quick’ games of “Flames Of War” in recently, simply to see just how the World War Two rule-set by “Battlefront Miniatures” works for infantry. We only used the “Hit The Beach” Starter Set Quick Start Core Rules, and ignored any formation rules to allow us to pitch several 15mm teams (stands) of German Panzergrenadiers against an American Parachute Rifle platoon.

Despite some fierce hand-to-hand fighting by the Panzergrenadiers, the Americans win the day

The first game was set up across some un-traversable water, a small piece of rough terrain and an area of woodland, and was designed for us to try out the different effective ranges of our various weapons. Needless to say, I was rather pleased with the high number of dice potentially rolled by my MG34 teams, especially when they hadn’t moved. However, that didn’t save my Germans from eventually failing their motivation roll and fleeing the battlefield following a series of poor saving throws.

Disappointingly, my Panzergrenadiers continued to perform poorly under fire throughout our second skirmish, albeit we did manage to work through the rule-set’s very bloody Assault phase with a few units. Of particular note was a scrap just outside some woods, which almost resulted in a German win when a Panzerschreck anti-tank team successfully defensively fired into the face of some oncoming American paratroopers. However, the damn Yanks dodged the formidable discharge and somewhat shortly afterwards victoriously forced my forces from the field again.

“The Griffin Was Originally Classified As A Heavy BattleMech.”

“Combining tremendous speed and firepower in one frame the Griffin briefly dominated in this role.”

This 1:285 scale pre-assembled plastic model of a Griffin is made by “Catalyst Game Labs” and currently can only be found together with the Wolverine, in the company’s BattleTech: Beginner Box. There are actually numerous ‘official’ Regimental Paint Schemes for the Kallon Industries manufactured mech. However, as I plan to employ this particular sculpt as a Japanese Mitsubishi class War Walker for an upcoming Weird War Two campaign using some homemade rules, I decided to go with a predominantly yellow palette.

“Combining good striking power, endurance and speed” the 40mm tall figure was initially undercoated with “Vallejo” Japanese Uniform WWII, shaded in “Citadel” Reikland Fleshshade, and dry-brushed using (more) “Vallejo” Japanese Uniform WWII. As I wanted the machine to somewhat represent the look of the Empire’s old carrier-based fighter, the Zero, I then ‘picked out’ the machine’s knees and shoulder-pads using a combination of “Vallejo” Luftwaffe Camouflage Green and “Citadel” Biel-Tan Green. These areas were later carefully dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Luftwaffe Camouflage Green.

"Each Flesh Hound is larger than a fully armoured Space Marine."

The Griffin’s cockpit windows and hands were pigmented in “Citadel” Abaddon Black”, whilst it’s right-handed Fusion Particle Projector Cannon (PPC), drum-mounted Delta Dart LRM-10 launcher and elbow joints were ‘picked out’ with a little “Vallejo” Gunmetal and a splash of “Citadel” Nuln Oil. Finally, I took two war flags of the Imperial Japanese Army and applied the Rising Sun transfers by “Decal Details” to the top of the mech’s shoulder-pads.

With the first of three Japanese Weird War Two walkers I currently have planned finished, I’ve found enough time to also complete a second base of 6mm scale Flesh Hounds, which used to be produced by "Games Workshop" for their tabletop wargame "Epic". These tiny chaotic beasts of Khorne were primed using two coats of "Vallejo" Heavy Red, washed using "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade and delicately dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Red. Their back spines and head crests were then ‘picked out’ using some “Citadel” Abaddon Black.

"Tangent Miniatures" WIPs - The Enemy Commander has been primed, shaded and dry-brushed

In addition, I’ve started work on the second of my Weekly Challenges, randomly chosen via a deck of playing cards. This time round I’ve got to paint a single 28mm model, so thought it might be a good opportunity to ‘crack-on’ with another science fiction figure by “Tangent Miniatures”.

Due to my already completing The Enemy from their Space Warriors range, I decided to base and prime The Enemy Commander. As with the (not) Rodan I’ve previously pigmented, this sculpt is heavily-influenced by Nick Castle’s 1984 American space opera film “The Last Starfighter”, and should make an excellent stand-in for the alien leader, Lord Kril…

“Further Infantry Divisions Were Pulled From Other Parts Of The Coast To Normandy…”

“…To allow the panzer divisions to be pulled out of the line…”

These eight plastic 15mm miniatures are sold by “Battlefront Miniatures” and can be found inside the company’s “Hit The Beach” starter set for “Flames Of War”. The figures consist of a non-commissioned officer (NCO), a machine-gunner, his loader and five riflemen. Together they form two of the six MG34 and K98 Rifle teams required for my German Panzergrenadier Platoon.

All of the figures were initially super-glued onto three wooden strips for ease of painting, and primed in “Vallejo” German Fieldgrey WWII. The soldiers were then shaded using “Citadel” Nuln Oil, and roughly dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” German Fieldgrey WWII using a small make-up blusher brush. Before picking out all of the models’ details I ‘boxed off’ their boots, ammo pouches, braces, equipment and weapons with “Citadel” Abaddon Black. Some of these areas, such as the rifles, the odd backpack and their firearm’s straps were later pigmented in Vallejo” Heavy Sienna, and washed using a mixture of “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade and “The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.

“…And concentrated for a massed counter-attack.”

In addition, the Panzergrenadier’s rifle tops, general-purpose machine gun, water flask stoppers were given a combination of “Vallejo” Gunmetal and “Citadel” Nuln Oil. Whilst the odd camouflaged helmet covering was treated to some “Vallejo” Heavy Brown, Luftwaffe Camouflage Green and Heavy Sienna. Such headwear was then washed with “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade, before being highlighted back up with (more) “Vallejo” Heavy Brown, of Luftwaffe Camouflage Green and Heavy Sienna.

Perhaps a little controversially I decided against applying my reliable ‘camo mix’ to a pair of smocks I spotted the odd Panzergrenadier wearing. This choice was certainly motivated by my desire to get the soldiers finished as quickly as possible, but also influenced by my desire to have my Beach Defence Grenadier Company appear as ‘drab’ grey as possible, so any subsequent Waffen-SS or Fallschirmjager units (which I plan to paint in predominantly camo) will stand out all the more on the tabletop.

"Battletech" WIPs - A Mongrel, Griffin and Wolverine at various stages of painting

The second medium-sized base of Germans also successfully brings to an end the first of my weekly painting challenges, and means that I now need only complete a fourth similarly-sized base of soldiers to field enough MG42 Teams, including its Unit Leader and accompanying Panzerschreck Team, for a minimum-strength Platoon – and that is already in the flock tin drying. As to the future, I’m going to try to push through another eight figures to bring the force up to full-strength, and then consider either adding 8cm Mortar Platoon, a Panzer IV (7.5cm) Platoon or a 7.5cm Tank-Hunter Platoon… 

Lastly, I have been focusing a little hobby-time upon three of my “Battletech” 1:285 scale plastic models by “Catalyst Game Labs”. I’ve now finished adding some green and black to my Griffin mech, so as to better represent the colours predominantly used on the old Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" aircraft, as well as made some minor in-roads on a Wolverine and Mongrel.

(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Flames Of War" September 2021

"While their resilience may have been limited, the beach defence troops still held out."

Ordinarily, I like to start each hobby month by planning out how I intend to reduce my embarrassing backlog of metal, plastic and resin models by focusing upon either a specific game, range, or manufacturer. But recently I’ve found my mojo somewhat struggling to maintain its focus over any given four week period, and I don’t therefore feel I’ve been as productive or attentive as I could/should have been.

As a result for the rest of the year I’ve decided to return to an old weekly challenge I somewhat successfully used to employ many moons ago, where every seven days I randomly choose (upon the turn of a playing card) a small number of miniatures to paint from a certain scale. Spookily, the first of these tasks will be a unit of 15mm figures, which rather neatly ties-in with my current project to field a Panzergrenadier platoon for “Flames Of War”.

"Battlefront Miniatures" WIPs - Three Riflemen primed, shaded and dry-brushed

In addition, I still plan to ‘pick away’ at a particular theme for the month, and perhaps unsurprisingly I’ll be sticking to “Battlefront Miniatures” range of 15mm plastic World War Two Germans. Indeed, with my inaugural play-test of the rules fast-approaching, I am somewhat powering through my first platoon’s MG34 and K98 Rifle teams, and hope to be able to bulk-up my Beach Defence’s core Combat Unit to its maximum strength within the next fortnight or so, as well as perhaps start building a Panzer IV (7.5cm) Tank Platoon.

I have also not lost sight of the myriad of 6mm “Epic” Daemons by “Games Workshop” which are currently littering my painting table, nor the bases populated with plenty of “Timecast” resin pieces I was planning on submitting for this year’s Season of Scenery Challenge. Both of these ranges will be fitted in whenever possible, especially the terrain, as I still need to get a few more bits done so as to properly populate a small-sized battlefield for my “Catalyst Game Labs” Weird War Two walkers.

August 2021 - My continuing interest in 15mm models means "Alternative Armies" finally make the list

From a progress perspective, the last month was something of a disappointment, as I only managed to finish one of several 6mm bases I had planned to add to my burgeoning “Epic” collection. In fact, without the incredibly ‘easy wins’ of some 10mm Small Creatures by “Pendraken Miniatures” and 15mm Xenomorphs by “Ground Zero Games”, the past four weeks would arguably have been a disaster.

I am however, rather pleased with how my German Beach Defence force for “Flames Of War” is coming along, having completed another fourteen infantrymen for my Grenadier Company. Furthermore, my ability to continually ‘chip away’ at my excess of Retained Knights by “Alternative Armies” has finally paid some dividends as the company are currently now my fourth most popular manufacturer of the year.