Friday, 28 July 2023

A Brand New Project!

 Yes, it's happened - midway through my GNW Russian project, I had an attack of butterfly-itis! 

Our friend Rick has a very nice collection of early WWII French and British troops and vehicles. He put the collection together several years ago, anticipating our other mate Paul would do some Germans to contest the Low Countries and France, circa May-June 1940. So far, the Germans have not eventuated, and Rick has lamented their absence to me on several occasions. so......


A bit or preparatory reading, all from my book cupboard - interesting fact, the top book on German Army uniforms was purchased for 99p circa 1976 as part of a "three for 99p" introductory offer to join the Military Book Society via an ad, in Military Modelling - I still have another of the books, Tank by Ian V Hogg - not sure what the third one I chose was....it's a long time ago!


A little bit of online uniform research....



And an order was placed with a local (NZ based) supplier three weeks ago....


Then with Colonel Bills, as something of interest was in his preloved section...



(The Reivers below are a subset of the butterfly effect!)



And then with 1st Corps AND Caliver about two weeks ago.... plus, a small local purchase of 20 x 50mm round bases on Wednesday - they all arrived today!



The very nice 1st Corps figures - first time I have ever purchased from them but probably won't be the last - their postage was very reasonable too at only £8.50!


And a bunch of early war Germans from Crusader - via Dave at Caliver (his postage, of course, is even more reasonable .... £0.00!)


One of the Crusader packs


And with a Warlord kneeling officer added


Added in a couple of the 1st Corps figures for comparison.


This is why I bought plastic bases - makes attaching the Warlord figures a simpler prospect - Rick already has his collection based this way so I thought I should match his style!


A comparison with the 1st Corps figs....


....and with Crusader privates and 1st Corps officer.

I reckon once they are painted up, these various different ranges will work really well together, and I probably have as much as I need in the way of infantry tanks and vehicles although no artillery at present and I might add an armoured car (SdKfz 222) and Kubelwagon to the mix...plus I would like to do a motorcycle unit, so am considering 3D printed options for that....

However, apart from possibly painting up a couple of sample figures to see how they look, its back to the GNW Russians for my painting desk - I need to get them done before starting on the Wehrmacht!

Thanks for dropping in and taking a look at my latest insanity - words of encouragement will be gratefully accepted in lieu of a psychiatric assessment of my condition!
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36 comments:

  1. Ray Rousell28 July 2023 at 21:10

    Busy times ahead, Keith!!!

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    1. rross28 July 2023 at 22:21

      Busy but fun Ray - but first, those Russians!

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  2. Jonathan Freitag28 July 2023 at 22:53

    Yes! Yes! Yes!

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  3. The Jolly Broom Man28 July 2023 at 22:53

    There a lot of this butterfly stuff going on at the moment Keith, though I have to congratulate you on where this particular one landed.

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    1. rross28 July 2023 at 23:16

      Cheers JBM - its kind of full cycle in a way - like many(most?) I started off with WWII and Airfix soldiers and a variety of 1/72 or 1/76 kits....in fact, I am SOOO old, there weren't really even any alternatives to Airfix - we never heard of or saw Italeri or Esci etc - except for hard plastic kits! I am quite looking forward to painting these very nice 1/56 (28mm) figures and vehicles.

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    2. Jonathan Freitag28 July 2023 at 23:21

      The The Butterfly Has Landed would be a great title but likely have only a fleeting engagement.

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    3. rross29 July 2023 at 10:10

      Now THAT would definitely have been a perfect title for my post, Jon!

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  4. Norm28 July 2023 at 23:18

    Good - I like the 3 man bases, they work well on the rounds.

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    1. rross29 July 2023 at 08:59

      Cheers Norm....I have considered whether putting three (and two) to a base limits their use to on particular ruleset and basing protocol...but as the main motivation is to help Rick get his stuff on the table, I decided I should replicate his style.
      As to rules, they will almost certainly be on "own brand" set....currently, Andrews ones that we used for the SCW game seem the leading contender!

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  5. Neil Scott28 July 2023 at 23:23

    Looking forward to seeing your progress on this project

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    1. rross29 July 2023 at 09:00

      You may have have some patience, Scotty. I intend to finish off the remaining three regiments of GNW Russians first!

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  6. Steve J.28 July 2023 at 23:53

    My you have been busy on the purchasing front! I love the label 'Belligerent Wife & Bairns': no chance of any confusion on that front;)

    Ah WWII, my favourite and like you I started off with Airfix and then the arrival of the 1:76 Matchbox range that had some lovely models IIRC. A good core German force will allow you to play a wide variety of theatres, with just a simple change of AFV's and some of the anti-tank guns. The basing looks good and which rules will you be using? I'm certainly looking forward to seeing these painted up and in action at some point. My planned France 1940 campaign stalled rather spectacularly this Spring:(.

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    1. rross29 July 2023 at 09:04

      Thanks Steve! It's not like I haven't touched WWII since the seventies....I have the recently paraded 20mm collection of course, as well as quite substantial 15mm collections of Germans, Russians and Brits....oh, and Japanese! But I have mainly resisted the conflict in 28mm up to this point!
      Yes, I liked the tongue in cheek description of the Reiver civilians too!

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  7. KEV. Robertson.29 July 2023 at 00:09

    Hi Kieth,
    The Butterfly strikes when we least expect it- though good on you! My last Project I did continuously for nine months - then one day I read Charles Grant's 'BATTLE'- all about gaming WW2 ...I was instantly hooked and have been doing WW2 ever since. Cheers. KEV.

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  8. Peter29 July 2023 at 00:49

    This looks like an interesting project.

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    1. rross29 July 2023 at 09:05

      Thanks Peter, I am looking forward to getting stuck into it!

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  9. DeanM29 July 2023 at 04:07

    Great looking Early-War project, ,Keith. One scenario/game I would like to try from this period is the raid on Eben Emael.

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    1. rross29 July 2023 at 09:07

      Oh for goodness sake Dean, don't give me any more ides! I have already been looking at early war Fallschirmjaegers!!

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  10. Lawrence H29 July 2023 at 08:28

    I agree with Jonathan. When I was younger I used to think that early war vehicles were uninspiring when compared to Konigstigers and JSIIs, but have come to realise that games where Mark IIIs and Matildas are kings of the battlefield are fun.

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    1. rross29 July 2023 at 09:09

      Thanks Lawrence...I think we are all like that when we are young. We had all the different eras on the same table ( or floor in actuality!) but most of the German kit was Panthers and Tigers!

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  11. Dai29 July 2023 at 11:08

    My own butterfly syndrome has struck of late and I may be expecting a delivery of new things soon too - it's a disease I tell you!

    Excited to see what you do with these Keith - my own early war project has been started but not enough to start a post on - hopefully next week that will change.

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    1. rross29 July 2023 at 15:11

      It is certainly a disease Dai - I am just unsure if its physical or psychological! Any significant work on this collection will be a couple of weeks off as I must finish the GNW Russians before I start on anything new! (I might do a small hors d'oeuvres to whet the appetite though....!)
      Now, you have me wondering, whither your butterfly has led you - hopefully the courier will drop off your new stuff shortly!

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  12. pancerni29 July 2023 at 14:43

    Good job planning and procuring for the project. Looking forward to the future AAR'S and of course the painting work.

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    1. rross29 July 2023 at 15:12

      Thanks Joe - it will be painting work first I imagine!

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  13. Aly Morrison29 July 2023 at 23:38

    Hurrah for butterflies Keith…
    I’ve always preferred the early war…which is probably why my own butterfly landed on the Dads Army project .
    I am looking forward to seeing your progress on this.

    All the best. Aly

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    1. rross30 July 2023 at 08:05

      Thanks Aly...I had forgotten about your Dads Army project to be honest!
      I am looking forward to painting some feldgrau too!

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  14. Stew30 July 2023 at 03:16

    Attack of the wargaming butterfly! It always strikes while in the middle of a project. It sings shouldn’t you be planning you NEXT project?”
    “You haven’t bought anytime a long time, go a little crazy and treat yourself.” 😀
    Good luck on the new project. I hope your friend will appreciate it.

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    1. rross30 July 2023 at 08:07

      Haha, yes you are right Stew...it was very nearly a Texas War of Independence/Alamo bloom that the butterfly settled on....then this came storming in out of left field!

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  15. Gonsalvo31 July 2023 at 00:50

    That;'s quite a new project! Fortunately, I am immune to the lures of anything post 1900 at the latest! :-)

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    1. rross31 July 2023 at 22:36

      Lol....there is, of course, plenty of scope for butterfly-itis prior to 1900, Peter!

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  16. caveadsum147131 July 2023 at 07:17

    Great looking start to your new project , of course you have to have them in three scales, makes total sense, full disclosure, I might have bought a box of Perry plastic Africa Korps to use as late war Germans, we're all at it!
    Best Iain

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    1. rross31 July 2023 at 22:38

      Thanks Iain....of course it makes sense, to us, at least! It's a shame the Perrys stopped at the Middle East with their WWII Plastics.....

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