Originally I used these for WRGs WW2 rules… Then Crossfire… They’ve probably seen the most action fielded as a company in Flames of War, but I’ve pretty much all but abandoned that. I think we used them for I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum, once or twice. Currently I’m using them for much larger scale actions with Blitzkreig Commander.
These and the DAK and Early War Germans are the only 15mm figures I’m keeping. I'm pretty sick of painting 15mm figures and have no great desire to ever paint any ever again.... That being said, I put a LOT of work into these, I know a lot of guys with opposing forces (heck, for North Africa I have my OWN opposing forces), and they’re done enough that I have a fair number of options for playing and designing scenarios. I do own a few more things I COULD paint if I wanted a bit more, but it will be a long time before I get to doing them as I have zero desire to paint anything in 15mm these days… I also don't happen to have much North African stuff in 20mm, so hanging on to these would mean I could play bigger battles in this theatre...
(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)
22 stands of rifles. This could be three and a half platoons for Flames of War or two slightly under-strength battalions for Blitzkrieg Commander. These are mostly Old Glory
Seven command Stands. These were Platoon Commanders or observer teams in FoW. I did have a larger CHQ and 2IC but they seem to have disappeared… They will be HQs and FAO/FACs for BKC. The one in the back with the officer dressed in battledress and an SD Cap acts as CO for the time being until I can make a new one… That may be a while. A mix of Old Glory, Battle Honors, and Battlefront.
Four Boyes ATR teams and three (unpainted) 2” mortar teams (platoon support weapons for FoW). If those 2” mortars ever get painted it will truly be a wonder. Don’t get me started on how hard it was to get some bloody 2” mortars…. I have them now though, should I ever decide to play at a scale that I need them…. The Boyes teams are from Peter Pig, the 2” mortars from Battlefront.
Vickers Machine-guns. One still hasn’t been re-based. A Platoon in FoW, a Company in Bkc, both from the Divisional MG/Support Battalion. All from Battle Honors.
3” Mortars. A full battalion’s Mortar Platoon for FOW, or enough Mortar Platoons for six battalions in BKC…. Think that last one will ever get re-based…? These are a mix of Battle Honors and Battlefront.
AT support; four six-pounders (and jeeps to tow them), two two-pounders. Again, a battalion’s AT Platoon for FOW, or enough AT Platoons for four battalions in BKC…. Or perhaps the 2-pdrs could be issued to the infantry battalions and the 6 pdrs could be from the Royal Artillery….? Guns and crew are Battlefront, jeeps and drivers are Old Glory.
Five universal carriers. Battlefront.
Pioneers – for an FOW pioneer platoon or enough pioneers platoons for a brigades worth of battalions – which is all I ever imagine I would ever field. Battlefront.
Three 5 CWT CMP trucks. I’m sure I have a few more of these elsewhere… needing to be painted… Battlefront.
A Dingo (I think) and a Rolls-Royce Armoured Car – Recce platoons for BKC. The Dingo is from Battlefront the Rolls is from Minifigs.
Matilda IIs. Two platoons or two squadrons, depending on the rules, from a supporting Army Tank Brigade. The tanks are Old Glory – I think the crews were from Peter Pig…?
A battlefront unpainted busted tank objective marker that was given to me recently and the beginnings of an HQ for the above Armoured Squadrons. These are all Battlefront. As the Battlefront Matilda is slightly bulkier than the Old Glory ones, and tends to stand out a bit, I thought I’d make it an HQ. For the HQ stand I will (someday, maybe) paint up the Dingo and add it to the stand, and perhaps add a few more figures, to make a bit of a mini diorama.
Casualty, Pin or Suppression markers and some extra officer types. They Officers were used as platoon commanders in Crossfire for a bit and may have been fielded as “big men” in IABSM…
To add some versatility to the force I thought I’d pick up a couple of Shermans and paint them with Canadian markings for the 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade so the force could also be fielded as Canadians in Sicily or Italy (in the summer at least!). The bases aren’t finished yet – at some point they will look like the Matildas above. These are mostly Battlefront. The un-based one off to the right of the picture is from Battle Honors.
Objective markers. I think these came from JR Miniatures…?
A Commando Troop for FoW, or nearly a whole commando for BKC. I’d need two more stands (assuming each stand represented a Section and two stands made a troop….) for a fifth troop plus a Heavy Weapons Troop – of course for BKC I HAVE extra Vickers and Mortar stands… These are mostly Battlefront, but there is a few Peter Pig commandos thrown in there for fun.
An Airborne (or ‘Air Landing”) Platoon from Battlefront. I have them in 20mm and 28mm so I might as well be a completist and have some in 15mm, right? I’d probably need a second pack to make a Para battalion for BKC. Considering I haven’t yet finished painting this one I doubt I’ll be picking one up anytime soon to do so…
“Bailed out” markers for FoW (Battlefront).
A Special Air Service Raiding Squadron. Not quite sure how these could really be used in BKC. The Raid scenarios in FoW are bunk! These are Battlefront – though there may be one or two Peter Pig drivers in the mix…
The beginnings of an LRDG Patrol from Battlefront. See previous comments on FoW raid scenarios…. Not sure how I’d ever use these…
The rest of the patrol….
Not for the desert, but I wasn’t about to do a separate post just for these. These are Canucks for Northwest Europe ’44-’45. They’re still based for The WRG rules we started with. The rifle men are all Old Glory and the platoon command, support and bren-gunners are from QRF.
Air Support. The finished spitfire is a 1:144 plastic model. I think it was Hobbycraft…? The others are Minifigs (another Spitfire and a Typhoon). Would have been nice to have a couple Hurricanes but there was no way I was going to pay $50 for a fight of them and by the time Battlefront came out with them I was pretty much through with FoW anyway…
The rest of the “To Paint” pile. Not a lot there – so close, yet so far…. Though I have enough for another 27 stands of Rifles I could only imagine ever painting up another 14 stands worth – for a total of 36 stands. That would make for 6 full-strength platoons (2 companies) in Flames of War (or any other 1:1 figure scale game where stands are half-sections), or three full-strength battalions (a brigade) in Blitzkrieg Commander (or any other game where stands are platoons).
THE PLAN
British (or Canadian - in Sicily or Italy...) Infantry Brigade (for Blitzkrieg Commander)
CO – Need to paint a new one…
3x Infantry Battalions each with:
-1x HQ (3 total) – DONE!
-12x Rifle Platoons/Stands (36 total – Have: 22 Painted, 14 to Paint)
-1x Pioneer Platoon/Stand (3 total) – DONE!
-1x AT Platoon/Stand (2 Pdr or 6 Pdr - 3 total) – DONE!
-1x Platoon/Mortar Stand (3” - 3 total) – DONE!
-1x Platoon/Carrier Stand (3 total) – DONE!
Divisional Support
MG Company (3x Vickers Stands) – DONE!
4.2” Mortar Battery (3x 4.2” Mortar Stands) – “Need” to get…. (yeah… right…)
25 Pdr Battery (4-6 stands…?)
Actually for both the above batteries I could just field FAOs, which I already have DONE!
Reconnaissance – Dingo, Universal Carrier, or Rolls Royce stands… DONE!
Corps/Army Support
Tanks
-2 Squadrons of Matilda II – DONE!
-1 Squadron of Shermans – Have: 3x Sherman V Painted, 1x Sherman VC To Paint!
Air Support
1x FAC (I could use the Dingo or one of the other Observer Stands) – DONE!
-Aircraft – Have: 1x Spitfire Painted, 1x Spitfire and 1x Typhoon To Paint…
(If I was concerned about putting aircraft on the table I should probably track down some Hurricanes or Kittyhawks for North Africa…)
As for the NWE Canadians… Maybe I should give them away or something… I have 20mm stuff to cover that Theatre of Operations…
I’m not even going to bother sorting out what I have for Flames of War…. I can’t imagine playing it in the foreseeable future…
Like I said so close but so far… I should really put the nose to the grind stone one of these days and crank out those 14 rifle stands and a couple of new HQ/CO/Command units and be DONE with it all!!! Well then there’s the Sherman VC…
Then there’s the LRDG Patrol…. Ugh... What to do about them…!? I think Someday I will paint them up and hang on to them for the fun of it….
If I ever REALLY got into playing WW2 North African scenarios again I could conceivably see myself picking up more tanks. Painting 15mm tanks isn’t quite as annoying as painting 15mm infantry… I’d pick up some earlier cruisers (A9, A10, etc.) or maybe some Crusaders… Long way off, that…
Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:
More Taking Stock - 15mm WW2 Germans; Early War and DAK.
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