Having sold off the 20mm (1/72) WWII stuff last year, I have been buying the bits to put some 10 / 12mm (1/144) forces together.
In the first instance I am going for a German mid war starter force - a new ‘Pocket Army’.
WWII can pass across the painting table at surprising speed compared to other periods and so it makes for a good quick project to fit in between other bigger projects, that you sometimes need a rest from!
Anyway, kampfgruppe Schmidt is ready for action, comprising as follows;
9 x Infantry bases (6 figures per 45mm base)
1 x Mortar base (with 2 mortar teams and an observer)
2 x HMG bases (1 HMG per base)
1 x OBA observer team (radio operator and observer with field glasses)
2 x PaK 40 bases (75mm anti-tank guns and crew)
1 x HQ base (Horch car and two officers)
3 x StuG III vehicles.
1 x Opel truck
The infantry, mortar and HMG and OBA observer team are Victrix hard plastic figures from their German Infantry pack costing £30, but there are still enough figures left to do quite a few more bases … perhaps even another company of infantry if I get a little creative.
All the vehicles are from Anschluss Wargames. They are resin and the StuG’s cost £3.75 each, the Horch car cost £3.50 and the Opel truck £3.25
The Anti-tank guns are metal from Pendraken Miniatures, costing £3.20 for the pair.
So for around £50 a flexible WWII Pocket Army can hit the table, for say just over £100 plus associated postage for the two small forces.
I have tried to base these so that they can fit into both rural and urban scenarios, but I am not sure that I have achieved that as much as intended. The problem is that if the base goes too dark, you visually ‘lose’ the figures in them. I had to add some light turf (a sort of dusting) to brighten these, but I think that has left them a bit ‘messy’.
Although the Horch car is based, that was really just to create a HQ scene and for this project, for now at least, I am generally not going to base the vehicles. The advantage of basing would be the raising of the vehicle so that they look right next to the based infantry, but I think un-based vehicles sit better on a variety of terrains - we shall see!
The infantry bases each represent a rifle section, so the nine base gives a company of three platoons, a fairly perfect size for my own rules, rather small for ‘O’ Group and also on the small side for Rapid Fire Reloaded scenario books that I have, though the ‘head count’ on the bases might make for a better visual for Rapid Fire games.
In any case, it is just a starter force and it will be easy to introduce other bases and broaden the versatility.
My intention now is to do a mirror force for the mid-war Soviets. I will look to add a 7th figure to the infantry bases to represent bigger platoons and see what that looks like and probably run one of the platoons with three sections of sub-machine gunners.
After which … ‘Attack on the Rail Station’ and others beckon!
Progress can then slow down a bit, perhaps a platoon of Hanomag half tracks for the Germans and a truck platoon for the Soviets, before turning to either a British / commonwealth or American force for another ‘Pocket Army’.
