Pete's Place

[pmskaar]

Go ahead a swap away, Hoth. Variety is the spice of life or so they say. It certainly keeps units from looking too cookie cutter.

I ordered some more M-4s today. Some with bulged turrets this time to add to the ones with applique armor. I am happy that GHQ has given us so many choices as to what Shermans we can field. I already have an M4A1 company and part of another. The same is true for the M4A3. I will plan to have an M4 company as well with the 2 turret types mixed in.

I would love to know which units had M4s vs M4A1s vs M4A3s. I believe the M4A3s started arriving in the European Theater in late summer/fall of 1944 so not really in Normandy.

I used to consider having my turrets moveable but wasn't sure about exactly how to do it at the time. Some people just pop the turrets on but extreme care must be taken so the turrets don't fall on the floor and get lost. I knew that wasn't the way I was going to go. I considered using a pin or tack with a head on it but didn't really pursue that. Some people magnetize the turrets but that seems a bit more work than I want to do right now. Of course there are other things I do that others don't care to do. I guess it is just a matter of "To each his own".

[Hoth_902]

I will definitely do a little bit of swapping with the side skirt turrets. I agree with you on the cookie cutter effect and trying to avoid it where ever possible. That is why I have pushed so hard for vehicle stowage. Not sure why that would not be a best seller. I think the more you load up a vehicle with extra's, the better it looks. Then, not two look alike. I am going to kit bash some of my Abrams using the US WWII vehicle stowage. Probably going to add a few jerry cans to to my German half tracks, like I've seen pictures of, using the same US Vehicle stowage.

Yea, agreed, I am also thankful for all the choices and variants that GHQ has put forth.. No complaints there. It really gives you options on what you can and will do with your gaming/modeling.

Knock on wood, I have not lost a turret to the floor as of yet. I know saying this, it will happen sooner than than later. Jinxie... LOL. Once it does, I am betting I will glue down every turret I have. LOL. To glue or not to glue is definitely the questions and you are right, it all comes down to personal preference.

[redleg]

Great pics of your solo North Afrika game Pete! Where is the rest of the game? I need to see the next turn!

And a technical question as well: when do you glue the turrets onto the hull? Do you glue them on, and then do a wash over the whole thing, or do you go through the entire painting process in each piece and then glue the turret on at the very end?

[pmskaar]

Thanks very much, Redleg! I have a fair number of Turn 2 pictures to post here which I will do tomorrow.

I have been busy working on a painting commission for a friend of mine. I just finished a Hook Horror and Giant Crocodile. These figures will be for a D&D game. I have some Owl Bears to do and then back to my own stuff for a while.

[pmskaar]

Here are some pictures from Turn 2 of Cruisin' for a Bruisin'. There have been a number of long range gun duels during this turn. The results are 2 Panzer IIIs knocked out with another immobilized and 2 Crusaders knocked out on the British side.

The hit chances have been pretty low so far but the British did get some luck early in the turn while the Germans managed to knock out 2 Crusaders in their final impulse. The Germans have 2 vehicles suppressed which means they have to roll against their troop quality to unsuppress during Turn 3. On the other hand, the British had 2 Misfires by rolling 20s on the To Hit Table and need to remove them before they are able to fire again.

[redleg]

Awesome Pete! Keep the updates coming!

[chrisswim]

Nice. Where is the British artillery? Looking good.

[Hoth_902]

Hey Peter, Love the pics from you game. More pics please, it inspires me to keep focusing on painting. With that said, I thought I would give your post a kick to the top with a quick post. AKA tread stealing.. Painted the screens on top of my SdKfz 222s. I think they came out pretty good. I think the next step is some camo. Let me know what you think.






I think I am going to create my own thread for my WWII post for my next post.

[pmskaar]

Thanks very much, Redleg, Chris, and Hoth! I appreciate it.

There is no artillery or aircraft on either side for this scenario, Chris. I am doing a solo run on my Cruisin' for a Bruisin' scenario to make sure it works reasonably well. I am running Mein Panzer at Imperial Outpost in Glendale, AZ this coming Saturday. The scenario is designed for new players and to have a fairly quick, fun game.

Hoth, your armored cars look great so far. Are these going to be for Europe or North Africa? I have some 222s painted up for Europe 41-42 in Panzer Gray but also some for North Africa in sand color.

I just finished my solo game a couple days ago so I will be posting a few more pictures here soon.

[Hoth_902]

Pete,

Thanks for the compliment. Its crazy how different the dark Yellow can look depending on the lighting. In the pictures I attached, they look orange. In the ones [PZIIIs and Stugs]I posted a ways back, using the same color, they look almost like a desert tan. The PZ IVs and Panthers I posted, the tanks look real yellow... Head scratch.. would not think things would vary that much. As for the theater, these are slated for Western and Eastern fronts.. I am going to leave a few in dark yellow, for a particular company, but most will be the three color camo of both theaters.

[redleg]

Lookin good Hoth! Your armor is great!

[pmskaar]

Here are a few pictures showing the middle part of my solo game of Mein Panzer. In the south part of the map, the Germans and British are just firing at fairly long range, 1000 to 1200 yards. Both are on the reverse slope and considered hull down so there is a benefit for that. At these ranges, even if the 40mm-50mm shots hit, the chances of a kill are only about 20% on the Kill Table.

On the north side, things are much more dynamic and fluid as both sides are now with 600 yards or less. Hits are more likely and the kill percentage increases as well at these ranges. A few brew-ups also occurred. The white puffs represent kills while the black puffs represent catastrophic kills aka "brew-ups".

[Hoth_902]

Pete,

All I can say is Beautiful... simply beautiful. Awesome to see your stuff in the heat of battle. Keep the updates coming. Your pieces and terrain look amazing.

[redleg]

Hell yes Dude! That is amazing!

[pmskaar]

Thanks very much, Hoth and Redleg!

Here are some pictures of the finale of Cruisin' for a Bruisin'. The game went a total of 8 turns when I called it. It resulted in a British marginal victory but was very close. One of the German XO tanks was brewed up on the final turn, heading for the village crossroads. That was the difference, otherwise the game would have ended in a draw. I was satisfied that the game was well balanced and close throughout.