Five Men in Normandy Available

I'll admit to being a bit of a fan of Ivan Sorenson's rules.  Fast and Dirty has become my go to set for platoon level SF and WWII games for a while (on the rare occasions I get to play a game).  So I was intrigued when he released a set of small scale rules for WWII skirmishes, 'Five Men in Normandy'.

Whereas FAD was free (and remains so), 5MIN has instead been released for download at a small cost through Wargames Vault. http://www.wargamevault.com/product/131040/Five-Men-in-Normandy

I downloaded the rules earlier in the week and had a good read through.  The base mechanics look commendably simple, with a lot of the (still short) rules given over to fleshing out the character of a squad and a campaign system.  There's also some basic rules to cover solo gaming, which is nice for someone like me.

First impressions, therefore, are good.  This looks like a set of rules that does that rare thing: (a) makes me want to immediately try them out, and; (b) look straightforward enough to do so with minimal fuss.

So, on to my first AAR...

Afrika Korps

Testing out colours for Airfix Afrika Korps.

More to follow...

Revell US Infantry Heavy Weapons

Here are the heavy weapons from the Revell US Infantry set.  Most Revell sets seem to include some form of multiple base with a heavy weapon and crew on it, and in this set there are two, a .50cal and Mortar (and two of each to boot!).

Apart from both being woefully under-manned (one man to run a mortar, really?), which is pretty normal for most sets of model soldier, these two are really rather good.  The weapons are nicely detailed (the mortar bomb actually looks like one, which is rare). the .50cal in particular is outstanding, the ammo belt the loader is feeding twists in a nicely realistic way, and his Garand and water bottle are on the ground in front of him.  There are even spent shell cases moulded onto the base to the right of the gun itself (although you can't really see them in the photos).

The only downside is that, being made from the usual Revell Soft plastic, assembly was a bit of a pain, even superglue doesn't like sticking these together and the mortar stand particularly had a tendency to try and bend away from wherever I was trying to put it!

Revell US Infantry

Here's the first batch of Revell US Infantry finished, painted for the late war period.

Not always a fan of the balancing grenade thrower type, but this is a good one, looking like he's winding up for a baseball throw rather than a cartwheel!  Guy on the left looks cold, wrapped up for sentry duty!

Three nice figures here.  All look like their weapons have real weight.  Particularly like how the Thompson gunner seems to be leaning forwards ready for the recoil.

The weakest three of the set (although still pretty good), starting with the usual sniper bait officer with pistol (although at least he's also doing something useful).  The other two seem to have unusually small heads, and almost look like they were from a different sculptor.  I do like how they're wearing their jackets for the cold though (one with the hood up, the other with an upturned collar), and that the one on the left is loading his M1.

Family shot.  I went for a darker colour for the helmet than usual, to provide some contrast with the green fatigues.  Seems to have worked OK.

Stocking up

Getting some painting done, although never as much as I'd like.  But of course that hasn't stopped me from picking up more future projects over the last couple of months to add to the lead and plastic pile.

First up, infantry from ebay!

Revell US Infantry.  I thought this was an OK buy, given some were already painted, but when it arrived I realised that there was actually the content of two boxes there.  Result!  Some of these are on the paint table at the moment and should be complete and photographed soon.

Old Airfix British Infantry for 99p.  Bit of a mixed bag, some poses are missing (no officer or stretcher bearers, a pity) and some are frankly pretty poor.  But there is a high proportion of Bren gunners in there; which is good as these are probably the best sculpts of the set and something I'm short of variety on.  Fodder for a few conversions I think: head swaps, added packs and maybe some turned into crews for guns.

Las but not least for the footsloggers, after much hunting and being outbid, I managed to pick up a box of the old multi-pose plastic Esci Bristish Paratroopers.  Been looking for these for a while.

Meanwhile the Military Vehicle collection has supplied a few more bits and bobs, although I have no idea what I'm going to do with a Sturmtiger...

 

D-Day, then and now

Some pretty impressive photos from the Guardian today.  Can't believe how well these have been matched up.

I found the first one, of the harbour in Weymouth, particularly striking as it's a place I know really well, having grown up nearby, and a view that my grandparents would have been very familiar with at the time.  The Lifeboat is even in the same spot (albeit a bit more modern these days).

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/ng-interactive/2014/jun/01/d-day-landings-scenes-in-1944-and-now-interactive

Airfix 8th Army

Not really painting with any specific goal at the moment, just doing various bits and pieces for fun.  The latest completions are a handful of Airfix Eighth Army, which I've had around since I was a little nipper, and which had originally had received a bit of paint from my Grandad.  Back then of course they had to settle for fighting against WWI germans or japanese infantry, now I actually have some Afrika Korps I can paint up!

The quality of some of the airfix sets is pretty variable, but these are still outstanding, even compared to many more modern releases.

Main uniform was Vallejo Iraqi Sand.  I used khaki for the helmets and green grey for the webbing, not strictly accurate, but I wanted them to stand out.