With my painting mojo returning, I managed to find something in my small lead pile to paint - another of the Flames of War 25 lb field guns, plus the ancillary bits and pieces that were included in the box set. With these done, there are just two more guns and crew to complete, and these are halfway done, so should appear in a day or two. Very nice little figures indeed - if all 15mm miniatures were this nice, I might be tempted to look at a full-on project in this scale (in fact, I have already done some research, but I am not committed to the next project yet....still thinking things through!)
In the meantime, here are tonight's images:
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The FOO (Forward Observation Officer)
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Award - Military Medal - Gnr. E. Manley, 25th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (FOO Party) France
On 3rd August when 11th Armoured Division had broken through to the village of PRESLES during the advance from LE BENY BOCAGE. Gnr. MANLEY was a member of the FOO party with Capt. B.M. O'BRIEN who was supporting 8th Bn Rifle Brigade, the foremost infantry of 11th Armoured Division. At about 1300 hrs Capt. O'BRIEN and his driver were wounded but could not be evacuated nor could relief be sent up as at that time 8 Bn Rifle Brigade were on the main axis of advance. During the next 24 hrs, although frequently under fire, Gnr. MANLEY kept his wireless set working and communication through to the Regiment. During this period, at the request of the infantry he engaged several targets including registration for a DF task. All shoots were successful. It was not until 1300 hrs 4th August 1944 that the road to the battalion area was declared safe and that a relief FOO party from the regiment could be sent forward. But for Gnr. MANLEY's courage, determination, initiative and skill in carrying out a task for which he had not been trained, the infantry would have been devoid of artillery support at a critical period of the battle.
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Battery Command Stand
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Another battery command stand - I am not clear on why all these figures have been supplied, but I based them as per images on the box artwork!
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As I say, really nicely sculpted little figures and thanks to the sensible British Army practice of almost all the webbing and other equipment being more or less similar shades of khaki, they are nice and easy to paint with one or two dry brushes of lighter tones to bring out most of the detail!
Well done Gunner Manley! That is an extraordinary achievement. But makes you wonder why they don't have a 2nd FOO at the front.
ReplyDeleteLovely work on the figures.
Thanks Ben - I just wanted to check up on exactly what FOO meant before posting it, and a link to that story came up, so I decided to include it in the post. I guess there was a limited number of Foo's and each one was assigned to providing fire support for a different front line unit...?
DeleteNice brushwork and the basing works so well. More please.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joe - there will definitely be a couple more guns in a day or two! Not sure what I will do thereafter - I don't really need to do any more of these for the mini project they are intended for.
DeleteVery very nice Keith but I have mixed feelings about 15mm. I always try to paint them like 28´s so they take me forever. Interesting stuff about the FOO too. Man there were some brave lads about back in the day.
ReplyDeleteThanks JBM. I know what you mean, but then, I would try to do the same with 19mm, I think. I liked the story of the MM, one of thousands of unsung heroes I expect.
DeleteThose are nicely done Keith
ReplyDeleteCheers Scotty.
DeleteThis is really a great looking gun and crew. I thought your WWII project in 15mm was already full blown.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon. I think it probably is, really, but as I have started this box, I may as well finish it off, and I don't have much else sitting around waiting for paint at the moment!
DeleteBeautiful work as always sir!
ReplyDeleteThank you Michal.
DeleteThere is some lovely figure animation there, I can see why you like them. Are they metal or the resin material that they have been using?
ReplyDeleteThes are all metal Norm, barring the individual scenic bases for the four guns, which are resin. I am unsure how old they are, but I suspect maybe eight to ten years, so not the initial FoW range, but not the latest stuff either.
DeleteLovely work Keith and good to see your painting mojo returning. Some of the FoW poses always intrigued me, such as the officer looking skywards, which just seemed weird to me.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Steve, I enjoyed painting these, as they were pretty simple to do to a standard I was happy with!
DeleteLovely work and great to see you back at the painting desk Keith. I have just finished reading Anthony Beevor's book on the Ardennes and it really struck me how brave some of those FOOs were.
ReplyDeleteYes a lot of unsung heroes in all conflicts I guess, Lawrence. Reminds me of quite a long joke I once heard an American comedian doing which basically centered on him volunteering to be a Corpsman (medic) in the USMC, to avoid the risk of being shot at, doing all the training, not being armed, landing with the first wave on Iwo Jima and as soon as the first marines hit the beach, the call goes out "Corpsman!" 😀
DeleteThe mojo returns with gusto 👍
ReplyDeleteLol, not really Matt, these little figures weren't too much effort really! The other two guns were finished if tonight, so will post them tomorrow.....then, I will have to dig deep and find something else to paint or, maybe, I might even push myself into playing a solo game!
DeleteGreat looking artillery and forward observers!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Cheers Iain
DeletePainting mojo usually comes back in small increments. But a nice start with these. Looking good. I do like that field gun piece.
ReplyDelete😀
Thanks Stew, the FoW stuff is well thought out and executed, paticularly the individual resin bases with the pre set holes to position the crew in the appropriate places.
DeleteThose are lovely figures that have been well painted. Especially the stand with the officer and binoculars.
ReplyDeleteThank Richard, as noted above, the great sculpting, combined with pretty simple uniforms, make these easy figures to do well, in my opinion!
DeleteSome itch in my memory from my days playing Flames of War (Version 2 or 3 - can't recall) says that the British Arti unit was a command stand (Major) with a staff team stand (Sat about a map typically), then two 4-gun 25-pdr teams each lead by a Command team stand with both gun units fielding a FOO that could mount in a Universal Carrier. (I hope that made sense.)
ReplyDeleteThe boxes often had extra figs too for some reason.
Regardless, very nice painting! :)
Cheers Dai - as I won't ever be playing FoW with these- well, it seems improbable, anyway - the info is interesting but redundant! To be honest, they may never see action, as a 25lb gun in normal circumstances would be hundred of yards, if not a mile, behind the front line action we are representing in our tabletop clashes!
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