In addition to the Battalion and Regimental Supports 'O' Group also allows for Divisional Supports, for the most part tanks and armoured cars. Having some spare M4A4 Shermans from ResinHistoricals sat around, I painted up Two Medium Tank Platoons, each platoon comprising of two M4 Shermans, to give me some Divisional options.
I blame this all on Andy Crow with his off-hand comment about whether I had any 6mm WW2 as he'd just tried 'O' Group at Deep Fried Lard and would I fancy a game of it if I had enough miniatures. A rummage in an iKea storage box soon produced enough Heroics & Ros 6mm US figures to make up an American infantry battalion plus a number of support units.
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| US Infantry Battalion |
Much of this came from my 'First Wargames Army' (including a platoon painted as US paratroops), the rest clearly reinforcements purchased some four decades ago but not painted (although all based on some 20mm by 10mm cardboard bases).
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| Battalion HQ |
I decided to re-base the troops on some MDF bases from Warbases opting for 25mm by 20mm, the logic being that the 25mm width was the same as what my 6mm AFV's were based on so would work with other sets if need be.
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| Forward Observer |
'O' Group being a battalion level game means each base is a section of infantry, with three sections of a platoon, three platoons to a company. I did consider larger 40 x 25mm bases to go 1:1 on the troops but decided that would negate any benefit in making the table larger by picking 6mm (most people playing the game in 15mm seem to mount three or four figures to a 40 x 25mm base).
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| Company Command |
I'm quite pleased with the end result, especially as the project so far has cost nothing (beyond a re-stock of MDF bases) and some figures sat unloved in a box since 1983 are no ready once more to storm across the Rhine and reach Berlin before the Rooskis!
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| Infantry Section |
With the 2nd edition of Lion Rampant due out at the end of the month, conversation down BIG has centred around what medieval games we'd be looking to get in. My suggestion of The Anarchy hasn't caught anyones imagination (apart from mine!) and with George having Crusaders and Arabs, and Steve sticking Arabs together I guess the First Crusade will be where we'll kick off!
Flicking through the University of Edinburgh The Crusader States and Viking In The Sun supplements and pondering what I could raise from either 'Metal Mountain' or 'Plastic Hill'. The scenarios around Harald Hardrada in the latter caught my attention and with some Gripping Beast Dark Age plastics sat around I've decided to raise a 24 point Varangian Guard force which can fight either the Crusaders or Arabs.
Using both the Viking Hirdmen and Saxon Thegns box, along with some Byzantine heads from the Fireforge Byzantine Spearmen box, I made up Hararada and a unit of Elite Infantry (armed with Dane axes), and a unit of 12 Varangian Medium/Heavy Infantry. I'm not 100% sure how accurate they are, they are not in the pretty palace uniforms often illustrated, my logic is that sailing off to fight on Sicily Hararada's men would be less flash. Whatever, I am pleased with them... Next up some Byzantine troops to get the force up to 24 points.
With a game of Sharp Practice lined up for tomorrow taking a scenario from the Swamp Fox scenario book, I have managed to finish a unit of ten mounted rebel militia for it that have sat in grey undercoat for rather too long.
In Swamp Fox a number of scenarios have the option of mounted rebel militia and whilst not completely necessary I liked the idea but baulked somewhat at price of the lovely Perry Miniatures Mounted Militia.
However Perry plastics rode(!) to the rescue with their extremely versatile ACW cavalry and AWI sprues in the spares box with spare heads, arms etc. On a few models I added some Green Stuff tails to their coats to reinforce the C18th look. As with my other AWI rebels they have been block painted and smothered in Army Painter dip which reinforced the dirty campaign look of troops in the South Carolina swamps.
