Clever Hans (Part 6 - SS Squad complete, more Winter scenery and Market Garden!?)

Here's the squad in an action scene next to the cabin that I also painted up this weekend. 

The last two troopers from my Winter SS squad were finished up this long weekend - the ammo carrier for my previously previewed LMG bloke and a cheeky crouching SMG trooper. Now they just need their Half-track painted up to cart them about the battlefield! Once again, I went with Oak Leaf camo that I think turned out okay on their uniforms and Pea Dot on their rolled up thingies strapped to their back. I really like Warlord metal minis, they've got some really good sculptors making lovely dynamic poses and full of character.

I swear these pics weren't out of focus when I reviewed them last night. O well. >_<

I've since started on my Heer Grenadiers squad and the platoon medic. Far less camo on these chaps, so they should paint up for more swiftly. Hope to have a post up on those later this week.

Next up is a small cabin by Charliefoxtrot Models. Cute little mdf kit that was exceedingly simple to build. I kept the paint scheme simple as well as the snow effects. I wish I could add Icicles (To all my Winter houses infact), but they'd not be very convenient for gaming purposes. 

Saturday saw myself and the good Densmol head over to the Ogres Den LGS in Orangevale for a Market Garden event organised by Travis Heitt. Not a tournament, but 5 or 6 tables all set up to represent the airdrop of Allied paras and the bridges that had to be held at all costs until the armoured units of the XXX Corps could reinforce their positions. Densmol and I teamed up as the German defenders on the Hells Highway table where we were to cause as much damage to the XXX Corps convoy and do our best to prevent them from moving off our end of the table and on to the first bridge. The game was exceedingly fun, though we both consistently rolled abysmal dice (14 Panzerfausts, a Pak40 and a Stug fired and missed or failed to damage) and failed to kill any of the British tanks on our table and the whole column just ran on through to the next table and the 1st bridge. 

Luckily our forces were able to withdraw once the situation got untenable and then move on as reinforcements on the next table. Not that they did much more there either! In the end, XXX Corps managed to hoss on through another two tables before they were stalled and finally started taking damage to their armour. A good day of gaming, regardless of how ineffectual Densmol and mine forces ended up being.

Our initial table. The British preliminary bombardments pinned all of our deployed units into complete uselessness. This allowed the Brit column to pretty much move up at full road speed and MG the crap out of everything with little to no ability to respond. Rubbish.

Two Pak40's, set up with great lines of sight down Hell's Highway. Shame only one was able to get a (missed) shot off all game before both were Machinegunned to death.

My StuG arrived from reserve, surely this tank hunting beast can pierce the flimsy side armour of those arrogant British!? Nope. Another miss.

British Recce Jeeps speed off the table to help the paras attacking the 1st bridge quickly followed by a Sherman. (In Sicily camo I think?) 

Fearing nothing that the German defenders were throwing at them, the Allied column presses on.

Game over man. Not a single casualty on the Brit side. A lot of dead and burning germans in return. 

The next table and we try to reinforce Craig's beleaguered Fallschirmjagers defending this bridge. Densmol did manage to brew up two jeeps, but my own forces were just a miserable as they were on the last table and only managed to gun down some of the Brit paras.  

British armour press on to try to reach the next bridge! (Which they did. :/)

Targets aplenty if only my StuG would come on from reserve. Which it wouldn't. After this 2nd game, we had to leave.

 Lastly, a kind gift arrived in the mail from a papanurgle forum mate in the UK to help fill out my daemons ranks so I can have enough ready to be able to play a game of Warhammer 40k with 8th Edition. Some 2000-and-something Pestigor beastmen that will be counts-as Plaguebearers and some beautiful 1st release Nurglings, enough to make 3 bases (Meaning I'll be able to plop down 6 total.). Some of my fav Nurgle models here - can't wait to get painting on these. (After, of course, I finish my Germans!)

This coming weekend will also see my good friend Stew (Check out his blog!) coming over for some Age of Sail action. Not sure what rules we'll be  playing, but be sure to see a little write-up on the game thereafter.