Ever look at your collection from 30,000 Feet?

Extra Crispy · Post by **Extra Crispy** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 7:56 pm

Last night I completed my inventory of the WW2 German forces. Since I built the collection largely through buying second hand, I decided it was time to give it some shape based on my rules of choice, Flames of Awesome (Flames of War with significant house rules).

As you would expect it's quite a mess.

I have 47 Panzer IV H. There are 34 StuG, 12 Tigers, and 14 Panthers. 29 Panzer IIIs and 5 JagdTiger IVs.

What I'm struck by is the collections I bought had (a) no infantry, but lots of half tracks. (b) almost no guns - a mere handful of anti-tanks guns but 2 dozen 88s.

Since up til now I've just pulled tailored my games to what I own it's not been a problem. I can see a lot of purchases in my future, along with a lot of unloading and horse trading!

chrisswim · Post by **chrisswim** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 2:16 am

I have some Abrams, do not care if it is not TO&E'd out, if I have too many or not enough, I do not have enough. Replacements for casualties. I have a bit of stuff so I may play various NATO countriesand mey others, against each other. I just need to find a reason for my modern Japanese force wanting for fight Italy, Poland or the UK in a land battle. I have naval ships in 1/300, 1/285, 1/350 scale and have aircraft, transportation by truck. I like the idea o multiple aspects when possible in a game.

Delta Echo · Post by **Delta Echo** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 3:12 am

I'm not surprised by the lack of infantry in the collections you picked up. I find vehicles pretty easy and enjoyable to assemble and paint in a short amount of time (especially as I don't base them).

Our gaming group does an annual anniversary D-Day landing game, usually loosely based of Omaha beach using FoW rules. Playing US 1st Inf. Div. supported by a Ranger Company forced me to "suck it up" and paint my infantry this year and it took considerably more time than I had anticipated. I painted and based some odd 140 1"x1/2" stands with the majority having 5 man teams on them painted in 6 colors including base coat. Remarkably I'm not completely blind, yet...

You have a pretty solid base of Armor to work from with the majority falling in the Mid-Late war categories. If you find that to be the case, I'd recommend the following:

Infantry - good mix of riflemen but be sure you have a healthy stable of MG 34 & 42 teams as well as some AT and SMG teams too.

Anti-Air - You have plentiful 88s but it may be beneficial to have some mechanized 3.7cm and 2 cm options... some of which pull double duty as Anti-Infantry flak guns.

Arty - several pack of 10.5 cm guns and howitzers should cover the basics.

Anti-tank - Not sure what 88's you have, but PAK 38 and 40 guns are great defensive AT guns to supplement the 88's.

Air - Late war air is tough for Germany with Allied air superiority, but a FW190 or ME109 for counter air / and ground harassment might not be a bad idea. A HS129 isn't a bad idea if you are facing Russians or want to humiliate US/UK armor.

Trucks - both for Infantry transport or subbing in for gun Prime Movers.

Mk 1 · Post by **Mk 1** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 3:23 am

Well, Mark, if you want to take a look at your collection, I suggest next time you also take some pics of your collection. But do it from 30 inches ... 30,000 feet is a bit too far. Or if the 30,000 was a scaled reference, I still suggest closer to 3,000 feet (scale distance).

By way of example, here is my most recently completed force, my Romanians:

A company of R-2 tanks.

A company of Romanian infantry.

The core of artillery support is provided by 75mm guns.

The artillery support can be bolstered by a battery of Skoda 100mm howitzers.

Depending on the scenario, AT gun support might come in the form of Bofors 37mm guns or Bohler 47mm guns or German-supplied Pak 97/38 75mm guns.

The motor pool is a mixed bag of German and French supplied trucks and cars, with even a few Italian and Polish vehicles mixed in.

Recon vehicles are most often just light trucks and scout cars from the motor pool. But there are some German-supplied SdKfz 222 and war-prize BA-64 armored cars available in some cases.

And while air support is not often available, it does occasionally come, in this case in the form of SM-79jr medium bombers. I have some more aircraft to finish this force ... already have my HS-129s waiting to be painted, and plan to get some IAR-80s.

This is my smallest complete force. My early war French force is about 1/2 again as large. If I add in my colonial French then maybe twice the size (but my colonial force is not yet filled in ... still spotty and missing some stuff I want to have). My Italian force is about twice the size. My American force is at least 6 or 8 times larger. My Soviet force is ... well, you could lose this force in the bottom of the box.

And then I have my moderns. ...

Extra Crispy · Post by **Extra Crispy** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 5:07 am

I'm doing a huge refresh of all my micro armor over teh next year or so. Ditching spray painted models and replacing or painting them. Ditching crappy models for better of possible. Basing and fixing. So expect lots of pics over the next 6 months at least!

Here's one from 30,000 feet (Soviets). Yes that is 66 stands of infantry in the lower right corner....I love me some grunts....

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Extra Crispy · Post by **Extra Crispy** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 5:08 am

Troops in action last Saturday.

Mk 1 · Post by **Mk 1** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 7:34 am

That is some beautiful stuff, Mark! And I do love me some RKKA!

I posted some pics following through a couple of my refurb projects a while back. Refurbed some old GHQ IS-2s and some SU-122s by the other guys. I recall at least with the IS-2s I did a complete thread on the refurb, so anyone who wants to see how I approached it might be able to find it by the thread title.

Also did a refurb on some BTs I bought by the pound from a guy at one of the local gaming clubs. They were all torn up, lots of barrels bent 180 degrees or more, stuff like that. I managed to get 'em all prettied up without too much trouble. Got to say I am pretty confident in my techniques for fixing bent or even broken barrels by this point!

Good luck with the upgrades. It IS very satisfying when you get 'em done. You'll feel even better about it if you take some before-and-after pics. Never can have too many pics, you know!

Extra Crispy · Post by **Extra Crispy** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 8:53 am

Well here's a start. The new tank company on the left is just being rebased. Then there are the lend lease for my Soviet hordes. Next are some Shermans and Fireflys I picked up in trade and finally a pack of Gaz trucks awaiting assembly.