WWII - May 20, 2017

Thanks to the help of other members of La Piccola Armata, today Riccardo, Flavio and Biagio decided to play a match to Warlord battle tank.

I couldn't play but I had the possibility to take some pictures and prepare a little scenario using my green devils and the tanks painted masterfully by Flavio, Riccardo and Maurizio.

The immagine below ispired me to prepare these scenario. It is an illustration of Osprey "Battle of the Bulge" 

(copyright Osprey Publishing)

The idea of the first group of pictures is to represent a group of German units attacked by artillery during their retreat in Italy or North Africa. Two panzer IV with Sd. Kfz. 251 and a group of German fallschirmjager

(Miniatures painted by me, Riccardo and Flavio)

I prepared a second version of the same scenario but, this time, I included a Tiger. Tigers were involved in one of the last battle fought by Germans in Africa: Kasserine Pass.

(Miniatures painted by me, Riccardo and Flavio)

I prepared also a second scenario. This time I put a Puma, another Sd. Kfz. 251 and a Panther. Also in this case the enemy artillery is attacking them ... It could be a possible scenario of Normady invasion or of the battles fought from the Germans to defend his territory in 1944/45

(Miniatures painted by me, Maurizio and Flavio)

In the last two group of pictures there is a StuG III; one of the most produced German armoured vehicle. Thanks to his silhouette StuG were easy to camouflage and a difficult target 

(Miniatures painted by me, Maurizio and Flavio)

In the photo below an officer of the fallschirmjager (with the white hat) is discussing with the crew of a  Wespe

(Miniatures painted by me, Maurizio and Flavio)

And in the meanwhile I was taking these pictures on another table my mates were playing their match.

Fallschirmjager, May 20, 2017

Yesterday at my club, "La Piccola Armata",  some of my mates (Riccardo, Flavio and Ezio) prepared a table suitable for WW2 urban conflicts.

Unfortunately no one could play and, even if I'm waiting to receive the last miniatures that I ordered to WarlordGames, the table was ready and I finished to paint three companies last week so I took some pictures. 

(Miniatures are painted by me, the Wespe by Riccardo)

Two snipers with a different perspective ... in and out the building

Same miniatures but different scales 

May 9, 1945

May 9, 1945 was chosen by the Soviet Union as the Victory Day over the Nazi Germany. In what way a club of wargamers celebrate it? With a commemorating table.

I want point out that miniatures and table are prepared by one of my club mate: Ezio.

Below a couple of photos of the Soviet troops that are gone to Berlin. 

On 7 May (in SSR it was May, 9) Field-Marshal Keitel signed the preliminary act on an unconditional surrender for Germany. 
So for SSR May, 9 1945 became the V-day 

This is an original photo of Soviet tanks in Berlin ...

... While the following ones are photos of a reenactment but they are adapted to understand the color schemes

But in our table the road for Berlin is still long

Also the photos below is original but ... in our case after the T34 passage. This was the real history.

Warlord Games Fallschirmjäger - How it made

I’ve not forgotten that I have to finish my last Modern Army (the Americans) but, in the last months, my club mates stated to play with WWII 28 mm miniatures so I painted some Fallschirmjäger companies as samples.
The idea is to use German paratroopers for Mediteranean theatre conflict. In this way we can use them for both Italian and African conflicts.

This time I took some pictures during the preparation of the miniatures. Generally, I use a mix of Vallejo and Gamesworkshop colors to paint them. I started to take photos after the boring work to remove the bits of plastic that the figures have after they are removed from the mold. 

Below some photos of the first stage: only acrylic colors after to prime the miniature with black color

The second stage is to wash the miniatures with Gamesworshop shades, in this case, a mix of Agrax and Nuln Oil.

The third stage is to paint figures details: eyes, camouflage scheme, hands and so on with a fine brush. This is the part I prefer

In this case the miniature is an Oberfeldwebel, this figure was part of PAK-40 team but he decided to promote him as NCO.  I decided also to paint his fliegermütze with a light white because I imagined him as a veteran of African front

Last stage … to play

Modern armies – How it made

I’m working to complete 20mm Modern Army and, at the moment, I’ve to finish forty-fifty Americans before to reach the goal.

I took some pictures of my work in progress.

Generally I prefer to take photos of the miniatures not stand alone but in a good scenario. This time I thought that it could be a good idea to show in what way a fistful of sand and some little plastic pieces can be assembled and painted.

Below some moments of Russian heavy machine gun (NSV 12,7) preparation. To re-create a false rock I used a simple wood bark painted with grey and treated with a Games Workshop shade.

Below miniatures in different stage of preparation

Finally the same miniatures in a simple scenario

Next appointments

Prossimi appuntamenti se qualcuno è interessato
Next appointments if someone is interested

Pavone Canavese, June 3, 2017 with a friend of mine we have organized a painting table and other games on the background of Ferie Medievali Festival

Rivarolo Canavese, June 4, 2017 La Piccola Armata with Warzone in a typical medieval Castle

See you .. 

WWII Italians 20mm

Last week I finished the Italeri Italian 149/40 cannon. I bought it ... two years ago ... but I've painted it only in the last days. 
It is a very nice piece even if I think that I do not use it to play. The model, with his crew, is very large.

During wwii this cannon was used by Italians in Africa campaign and on the Russian front. 

It was a heavy cannon and during El Alamein battle they operated every day generally in direct attack against British tanks. Direct attack it means at "point blank". I cannot image the effect to use this kind of artillery this way.

After Italian armistice this type of cannons were used by German army and called K 408. They used only for coastal defence.

I took also some pictures of my Italians miniatures ...

The kneeled officer is an Alpino while the second one on the landscape is a Major of the Royal artillery. Below other photos but I painted these miniatures a lot of time ago.