WW2 Paint Guides

I have made a purchase of some figures for NUTS! and found myself wondering how to paint them.

So here is another post in the WW2 theme, this time tracking web resources on painting schemes and guides

Any recommendations for this list will be gratefully accepted. :)

British (and Commonwealth?)

• British Infantry - Flames of War website
• British and Canadian infantry - Bolt Action Miniatures. Very detailed, sadly light on pictures. Colour charts for Citadel and Vallejo.
• British Airborne - Great Escape Games
• British Commando - Great Escape Games
  

German

• German infantry - Lloydian Modelling Tips. This is really nice article on German infantry.
• German infantry - Bolt Action Miniatures. Very detailed, sadly light on pictures. Colour charts for Citadel and Vallejo.
  
• SS Pea Dot camouflage - Flames of War website
  
• German Infantry 1939-1945 - Flames of War website. Not completely sure about this one - disagrees with the Lloydian site above...
• Fallschirmjager camouflage - Flames of War website.
• Waffen SS - Great Escape Games
• Wermacht Heer - Great Escape Games
• Vallejo Colour Guide - The Miniatures Page post. Bit hard to read, but great resource.
• Splinter Pattern Image - Steve's Page of Camo
• Suggest Colours for Splinter Pattern - Colorado Minatures
• German Camouflage Patterns - kamouflage.net
  

Russian

• Russian Infantry - Amazon Miniature. A general page with some good detail on Russians:
• Russian infantry - Bolt Action Miniatures. Very detailed, some pictures. Colour selections for Citadel and Vallejo.
• Russian Infantry - Great Escape Games. Step by step pictures and colour guide. Nice.
  

United States

• US Airborne - Flames of War website
• American Army - Bolt Action Miniatures. Very detailed.
• US Infantry - Great Escape Games
• US Airborne - Tom Weiss

for chris

Infantry Tactics WW2

In the search for better TO&E for Russian units, I came across a site with some discussion on infantry tactics and the corresponding units.

I haven't read it in detail, but seems good (not to mention they have some TO&E material).

Here's the link: infantry tactics of WW2

and their TO&E data

WW2 TO&E

With NUTS! have a more historical (if somewhat cinematic, apparently) feel about it, it seems appropriate to consider some potential theatres for scenarios.

Thanks to the TO&E Yahoo group for this data.

My current thoughts are to start small - one combat section per side and see how that plays out. I'll be surprised if NUTS! can handle a full platoon, but some more games will tell. At that size it is basically a couple of Peter Pig packs. Sweet.

UPDATE: I have been struggling to make sense of the Soviet data from TO&E. The numbers haven't been adding up and I haven't been able to find any alternatives. Until now. :)

The Avalanche Press site has some detail on Russian platoons. This data is reinforced by this site.

Stalingrad

    German Rifle Company Platoon (1942-43)
 Headquarters

 1 Squad
     2 x 9mm SMG
     6 x G98 Rifle

 3 Squads
     2 x 9mm SMG
     1 x 7.92mm LMG
     1 x G98 Rifle (Assistant LMG Gunner)
     6 x G98 Rifle

    Soviet Infantry Company Platoon (1941)
 Platoon Leader w/ pistol
 NCO w/ SMG
 1 or 2 Messenger/Sniper w/ rifle

 4 Infantry Groups
     Group Leader w/ Rifle
     6 soldiers w/ Rifles and some SMG (mostly rifle)

     LMG Machinegunner w/Pistol
     Assistant w/ rifle


 Mortar Group (1+3 men)
     Group Leader
     3 Mortarmen
     1 50mm Mortar

Monte Casino

    German Rifle Company Platoon (1944-45)
 Headquarters
     1 x 7.92mm LMG
     1 x G98 Rifle (Assistant LMG Gunner)

 3 Rifle Squads
     2 x 9mm SMG
     1 x 7.92mm LMG
     1 x G98 Rifle (Assistant LMG Gunner)
     6 x G98 Rifle

    British Rifle Company Platoon
 Headquarters
     Second Lieutenant armed with a revolver
     sargeant with a Sten gun
     platoon commanders batman with a rifle
     platoon commanders orderly with a rifle.

 2” mortar group consisting of
     lance corporal. Mortar group leader with rifle
     mortar No1 with 2” mortar
     mortar No2 with rifle

 ? Rifle sections
     Corporal. Section commander with a Sten gun
     Rifle group of six men armed with rifles.
     Bren group of three men
         Lance corporal, Bren group leader with rifle
         Bren No1 with Bren gun
         Bren No2 with rifle

US Rifle Company Platoon (1944-45)
 Headquarters

 3 Rifle Squads
     10 x M1 Rifle
     1 x BAR
     1 x 1903 Springfield Rifle or M1 Garand
       or
     9 x M1 Rifle
     1 x BAR
     1 x .45 cal SMG or .30 cal Carbine

TODO: Normandy

Pacific Theater

    Japanese Infantry Platoon
  Headquarters

  3 Squads
      1 x 6.5mm LMG
      12 x 6.5mm Rifle

  Weapons Squad
      3 x 50mm light mortars
      13 x 6.5mm Rifle

Australian Infantry Platoon (Tropical 1944)
(based on Australian War Memorial data)
  Headquarters
      Platoon Commander - Lieutenant
      1x 2" Mortar, 2x Mortar numbers
      3x Rifles

  3 Rifle Sections
      10 Other ranks
      1x Bren LMG
      2x Owen/Austin SMG
      1x sniper rifle

Tobruck or Bardia?

    Australian Infantry Platoon [4 Officers, 62 Enlisted each]
  Platoon Headquarters [1 Officer, 8 Enlisted]
    1 x Bren LMG
    1 x 2" Light Mortar

  3 Sections [1 Officer, 18 Enlisted each]
      Section Headquarters [1 Officer, 2 Enlisted]
      Rifle Squad [16 Enlisted]

WW2 15mm

The list of miniature manufacturers is getting a bit out hand. With the recent purchase of NUTS! it seems time to focus on a specific area - WW2 this time.

Here is a list of manufacturers of WW2 15mm in some more detail:

Battlefront
Germany, Finland Italy, Hungary, Romania, United Kingdom, USSR, USA
Infantry and Vehicles.
Clearly oriented towards Flames of War, so packs might be large. Vehicles have always been regarded as expensive. Happy with the Soviet Red Guard army I have for these rules.
Not sure where to get them from now that Napoleons has closed down... MilSims or Mind Games? Tin Soldier even - what happened to the Brisbane retailers...

Eureka
Australians, Chinese, Italians, Japanese, US Marines
Infantry
Really nice looking figures.
Typical Eureka - per miniature pricing at 80c ea.

Legions East
Early Russians, Finns, Hungarians and Romanians
Infantry only.
Nice looking figures, specialised range
Available from the US.

Old Glory - Command Decision
British, American, German, Early British, Early German, Russian, Italian, Japanese, French
Infantry and vehicles
Infantry in massive bags of 50 for £9. What an earth do you do with 50 figures in a skirmish game? 10 man packs available from Skytrex in the UK.
UK - postage expensive.

Peter Pig
Germans, British, Americans, French, Russians, Italians, Japanese & Dutch
Infantry and vehicles.
Huge selection of infantry, 8 per pack . Nice looking sculpts.
UK - postage will be expensive.
Available from Micks Metal Models in Australia - no entries in store.

Quality Casting
ANZAC, Britain, France, German, Italy, Japan, Polish, Soviets, USA
Infantry and vehicles.
Extensive selection of vehicles and good lists of infantry. No pictures. Figures seem to be in lots of 24 for US$10.
US availability - postage again

Quick Reaction Force (QRF)
American, British, Bulgarian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Polish, Romanian, Soviet
Vehicles and Infantry.
Vehicles are really strong. Basic selection of infantry. Vehicles about £5 - ouch. Infantry £2 for 8. Vehicles seem to be well regarded.
Available from the UK. Postage is again, the enemy - 30% of order.
Australian agent is Olympian Games (busted website).

Resistant Roosters
Americans, Finnish, Germans, Japanese, Soviets
Infantry

New rules

Been a while since I last posted. Must try and do better.

At the last club game I arranged to play a game of Chain Reaction 2 from the Two Hour Wargames guys. This is a free set of rules that predated the more specialised WW2 and sci-fi versions. This idea all started with some other members talking about playing TW&T from Too Fat Lardies.

Having these rules available for free made a great opportunity to get a feel for the Two Hour Wargames mechanics. And really this is what it is all about with these rules - new, novel mechanics.

The basic difference is that the figures will react to events around them - two big ones being: seeing or being seen by the enemy; and receiving fire. Depending on the quality of the troop involved the troop will react in different ways. All the reactions seemed reasonable and logical and for the most part made the game feel realistic.

As a first game we fumbled with the rules a bit and forget where we were up to in the heat of the moment. But as a first game it went quite smoothly and we all enjoyed it. A few more games should cement in the concepts and we can get on with some serious games.

This brings me to the other area of interest for me - not a points based, tournament driven game. I am not against tournaments and competitions per se, but it seems that rules tailored towards competitions lose something in the process. Not to mention the tournament weenies that super tune their lists and get very picky about applying and interpreting their rules (read anal retentive). Not so much fun.

So a game that focuses on scenarios (not necessarily "balanced" like a tournament style game) and therefore the story should be a lot more engaging. It will require more effort to assemble the scenario for a game, but should really be quite flexible. I can already see a scenario for the allied paratrooper landings after D-Day. The Two Hour Wargames rules support campaigns (or linked scenarios) by allowing Stars (your battlefield representative) to develop and improve over time.

The more focused rules NUTS! (WW2) and 5150 (sci-fi) are looking very attractive.

There are a number of reviews out on the 'net worth reading about the Two Hour Wargames rules. Recommended.

Thanks to the BIG guys who broadened my horizons.