8.8cm PaK43 - Sculpted Bases

I decided to splash out recently and subscribe to the new look Wargames Illustrated, and as a bonus got to choose a small box set from Battlefront as an incentive. I decided to choose the 8.8cm PaK43 Anti-Tank Platoon, mainly because it was the only option available that would fit into my as yet un-started late war German army.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the new PaK43's come on sculpted resin bases, with the base of the gun becoming part of the actual base, making assembly (my most hated part of this hobby) a lot easier. This suits me down to the ground. It means I have a nice base with no real hassle. Of course, the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if it was the right direction to go.

It seems that Battlefront are targeting the lowest common denominator these days, in an effort no doubt to get more people playing Flames of War. This is a great direction, don't get me wrong, but what about those of us who enjoy making our own bases, adding little bits of detail to make our army stand out, or to suit a specific battle?

Would it not be better to have two sets available, even if one was special order only, so that hard-core modelers could have the full kit with no sculpted base?

And if Battlefront are going to be re-modeling all their box sets to include sculpted resin bases, what about making a sculpted base for the command team, so that the whole set is consistent?

I do like the new PaK43, and may even get distracted enough to start on it before I've finished my long over due Brit Airborne.

The Good, The Bad and The Zombies!

Let me start by saying that I love Battlefront, they have a great game system and range of figures, and some of the best customer support I've ever come across. So with the impending completion of my Late War British Airborne Army, I figured it was time to start planning a Late War German Army for them to fight against. Fortunately I had some Graphic Novels to trade in at King of Cards that game me a bit of money to spend. After looking through a couple of Flames of War Army Book, I decided to build an SS-Panzergrenadier Army, Starting with the SS-Panzergrenadier Company Box Set and a couple of 15cm NW41 Rocket Launcher blisters. I also have a couple of Tigers on order.

I have come across some rumblings in the Flames of War forums recently, talking about the new figures and how some people were not happy with them. But having such a good personal track record with Battlefront products, I dismissed these grumblings as the ravings of some anal perfectionists.

I had elected not to even open the box set until my Airborne were finished, but I couldn't resist. I had to have a peek.

I'm kind regretting taking a peak now, though it's probably better to find out sooner rather than later how awful the figure really are...

Who knew that zombies were good at handling the belt feed ammo for a German HMG. This dude could almost pass for that bad guy who wore a bag over his head in Batman Begins.

From this angle you can really see the detail in his face. That's what I call a blank expression!

The zombie machine gunner doesn't look much better either.

Shuffling zombies, this guys foot is so mangled he'll never be able to chase you down and eat you.

If you can ignore the excess flash around his face, you'll notice that his side arm is fused to his hand in a mash up between an small alien ray gun and a blob.

Form the other side you can actually see that he's a zombie.... love the hollow mangled face.... can't wait to add some pale green skin and oozing blood.

As for this guy, some one should have told him that you can't run if you hav two mangled legs that have been fused together...

And finally, the first thing I noticed when I opened the box was this sniper - he and everyone else who lies down on the job, no longer come with a 'base' to lie on like their standing or kneeling comrades, in fact - and it's a pity the photo doesn't really show it - he only has half legs. Perfect if you want to have him lying, submerged in a muddle puddle, but too bad if you wanted to base him on an urban base, lying on the pavement...

Maybe I'm expecting too much, but compared to my British Airborne figures, these guys are shit.

Update: Emailed Battlefront Customer Support at 5pm today.

Update #2: Just received the following reply, less that 24 hours after my initial email:

I'm happy to fully replace the box set in question, do you have a postal address
that doesn't have a P.O. Box number as our provider sometimes find it hard to
deliver to P.O. Boxes within New Zealand. Please let me know and I'll get the
replacment box set out to you ASAP.

I'll update again when the replacements arrive.

Update #3: One week to the day, brand new box set arrives. Will check out the quality at a later date!!!

I Love Free Stuff

Lets face it, we all love free stuff, especially when it comes to free wargaming stuff, right? Well the nice people at Scale Creep Miniatures recently decided to give away some of their miniature ships, 1:6000 scale. So after creating an account on their website and NOT having to give any credit card details, I ordered by free ships, not really knowing if they would actually come. And here we are less than a week later and they've arrived.

Of course I don't have any plans for them, unless my gaming group suddenly gets the urge to drop some dollars down and starts playing epic sea battles in 1:6000 scale!

Size Comparison

The Good Guys

Private Burton
Kentucky Davies
Agent Lake

The Bad Guys

Sturm Battalion Zorn Rifleman
Sturm Battalion Zorn LMG
Sturm Battalion Captain Rohr

Happy Birthday

It was my Birthday on the 28th, and today my slightly late present came. My wife took note of my wish list and ordered me some pulp goodness from Artizan Designs. Now I have three Sturm Battalion Germans, Kentucky Davies (Indiana Jones), Private Burton and the lovely Agent Lake.

Unpacking pics below, better figure shots and comparison shots with my other pulp figures later in the week.

With Options...

So on Friday I purchased 3 Cromwell IV kits, 'with Centaur options.' Of course, being a kit that has various options, means that it comes with a lot of parts and not much in the way of instructions. Also, the turret doesn't seem to want to come off, which probably means it just needs a soak in some warm water? Constructing and painting these beauties will give may Airborne some options.

With my Airborne army almost finished, I've been looking at options for a late war German army to fight them. Initially I had hoped just to use my existing Grenadierkompanie and re-jig the points based on Festung Europa. Then I asked in the FOW forums what would be a good army to fight the British Airborne and a couple people suggested looking at Monty's Meatgrinder for ideas.

Looking through my just acquired copy of Monty's Meatgrinder I figured that a Panzergrenadierkompanie would be the fairest thing to put up against my Airborne. The only problem being that rather than the five man Rifle/MG teams that my Grenadierkompanie comprises, the combat platoons in the Panzergrenadierkompanie are 4 man MG teams.

I quickly whipped out Festung Europa to see if I would just have to use a general late war option an discovered that the only late war German army utalising five men to a base is a Pionierkompanie that has five men Rifle teams but has no weapons platoon options, so would have to build up the support platoons.

Looks like I might be scratch building Panzergrenadierkompanie as my main hobby challenge (after January) this year.

Now I just got to figure out where to get some spare hobby money from....

Latest Purchase

Brummbar Unpacked

Unpacked my Brummbar with the intention of cleaning up the pieces and assembling it ready for painting. But then I looked at the gun and how deformed the end that plugs into the resin tank body and I'm contemplating asking Battlefront for a replacement part. The only problem with this, is I'd have to wait for the part to arrive before I could start on my brummbar.... decisions, decisions.