'The yanks are coming'

Some time ago I posted this picture.. a box with a range of 20mm US equipment that my son Nick had accumulated in preparation for a US army for Rapid Fire. Our interest in that rules set waned after a decade of play, and Nick moved on to Ancients and HotT. The figures stayed with me. The success Nick G and I found in playing Spearhead in 20mm has meant that i have renovated Russian, British and German armies over the past two years, and now it's the turn of the Americans.

Tonight I finished basing the infantry, three battalions worth.

I also gave the figures a wash with Citadel 'Nuln Oil' to give the figures a little more depth. I think that Nick did a pretty reasonable paint job so there seemed to be no need to do any repainting.

The mortars and HMG didn't really need rebasing, so there's a regiment ready for the table.

Houses resurrected. this isn't a fantasy novel is it?

Way way way back at the end of 2010 I bought four ornamental houses from a $2 shop here in Christchurch. The plan was to use them as scenery with 15mm figures. The colour however were a little OTT, and so the plan was to repaint them.

I had undercoated them and started the paint job when the 22 February earthquakes hit. The houses were thrown about a bit (much like their full sized equivalents) and suffered some damage. They have sat on the shelf for almost 3 years now, looking forlorn.

Last week I decided to get them finished.

That'll do.. next please!!!!

M36 Jackson

We've just been away for a few nights before starting back at work.Just before we left I just managed to complete this little beauty: a Nitto M36 Jackson. I can't say I'd go out of my way to buy any for the nascent US Spearhead army 1944 - M10s would do just fine (I don't rate myself as a 'power gamer' looking for the biggest guns etc). The kit was another one of those for which I have no recollection about how it even came into my possession, but it did, it has been sitting there, and I decided to assemble it.

Overall a nice kit, but it was sufficiently old that the tracks, and some of the locating pins on the bogies, had turned brittle. The assembly was therefore a little messy, so I decided to disguise it with the 'pseudo diorama' arrangement on the base - a brownish stone wall a la Normandy (although the blocks are somewhat too regular in shape and size really). It will most likely masquerade as an M10 on the tabletop, but a nice addition to the slowly growing US army. I am currently playing with lists using Keith's Scenario Generation System.

So yet another box disposed off, its contents completed for the table. You know, I'm still enjoying this 20mm modeling thing.