Creating an 'Army' of the 'dirty dozen'

Last year I bought a bag of (probably) the worst Army men ever made, in a local toy store. They looked so bad that I did not know what to do with them or use them for, or to use them at all.

Among these 'sub level quality' figures the grenade-throwers, originally originating from Matchbox American Infantry but now cloned to the unrecognizable, were probably the 'least poor' in the bag. They were still looking so bad that it was difficult to take good photo of them:

This pose is not so useful in general wargaming, but they can be used as 'snowball fighters' as I did in another wargame I played last year. Ironically the grenade-throwers I made back then in 1:87 scale looked better than these thin strange looking 40mm-ish clones. Mark man of Tin has also converted similar figures into 'snowball fighters'. So I decided to try convert these to civilian 'snowball fighters' by adding 'bobbles' or 'pom poms' (to their helmets, making it look like a bobble hat), scarfs  and snowballs made of Miliput. Their 'mittens' will just be painted later on:

Then they were primed:

At this point I thought I should ask ChatGPT for a suggestion how to easily convert these figures into civilian snowball fighters. Except for my reference photos and being more 'well proportioned' the suggestion was almost similar to the conversions I've made to them already:

Due to these figures semi-flat bodies, thin limbs and bad proportions I kind of got a 'tin- or lead figure' feeling. Inspired by Mark Man of Tin's 'Faking lead' conversions of plastic figures, I decided to paint my figures in silver to see if it would give such a resemblance:

Beside an original semiflat tin figure in 40mm from Prince August I casted with my oldest son many years ago, it looks pretty 'close' I think:

I have a (bad) habit of 'overdoing' things when coming to modelling, so even if this 'faking leads' were pretty close to an original tin-miniature as is, I decided to blackwash them as well just to suggest some oxide and dirt:

It would be tempting to just keep them like this, but as I plan to use them for snowball-fight wargaming, it would be nice to tell them apart. Keeping them to this 'vintage' and 'faking lead' style calls for solid colors without any washes or drybrushing and a glossy finish. This will be the very first miniatures I paint this year:

Note to self; don't choose opaque paint for solid colors unless you're very patient.

Since I plan to use them for snowball-fight wargaming I painted them to give a hint of 2 different teams. Team Blue:

-And Team Red:

I haven't painted miniatures in a glossy finish since I was a young kid, back when I didn't know the difference between 'Matt' and 'Gloss' from the local 'Humbrol rack'. I think these turned out just fine in 'Gloss' giving them a hint of a 'vintage style-ish' look. I considered 'drybrushing' silver just to give a hint of wear and the 'faking lead' underneath, but I was happy with them as they were. Actually I think these figures justified buying the bag of these bad looking soldiers in the first place. 

I was very intrigued by Mark at Man of Tin when he made a blogpost on 'What-if' Airfix snowball fighters, so I wanted to make one for these figures as well:

I guess they're about ready for the tabletop, or even better, outdoor wargaming now. We've had snow and it's interesting conditions outside. Please follow this blog (if you don't already does) and get updates as soon as I post them.

Blog PostScript 

Last month we arranged the first scale model builders meeting in the city where I live, Moss. Yesterday afternoon/evening the second meeting was held with a small secondhand market and a small 'competition'. Most of the 'members' are also IPMS members, but I brought my RC Combat Boat 90.

A simple conversion gone complicated

Last year I bought dozens of used and cheap LGB-wagons on online auctions in Norway. They were starting to pile up in my hobby room, so I decided to start converting them so they eventually would look like something that could belong to and be hauled behind my large scale Heeresfeldbahn and War Department Light Railway (WDLR) locomotives.

I decided to start with an already grey low board wagon with nice German markings and lettering on it (which I wanted to keep). It would probably just need a blackwash to be ready for service:

I immediately noticed that this car had several unsightly holes in it's floor:

Off course I could just cover them by making another false floor like I've done on similar wagons, but then they would still be visible if the loads or floor was removed. -So I decided to fill them with Miliput:

When turning this wagon around it was just like turning to the dark side of the moon. I've only seen one side of it on the online auction, but when I turned it and saw the backside, it was literally a 'backside' (!) I dont know what the previous owner had done to this wagon, but along the 'backside' both the buffer beams were cut off, and so was the bars on the side holding the planks together and the shunter's steps were missing. I got it really cheap though and I guess you get what you pay for:

This was not going to be the very simple conversion as I thought as this was going to need a little more than a simple blackwash. Firstly I needed to make new buffer beams for both ends. I found a free STL-file for a similar chassis on Thingiverse which I converted and 3D-printed 2 new buffer beams:

-And 2 more steps:

Then I decided to trim off the bars on the intact side, to match the cut-offs on the 'backside'. I have so many identical wagons of this type so it will simply just add some slight variation among them:

Then I painted the floor, weathered the chassis, reassembled the whole ting and finally gave it that coat of blackwash:

I think it's ready for service now:

I guess the next pull from the 'pile of project wagons' will need less remodelling than this one.

Skirmishes on Greenland

First of all a disclaimer; The heading must not be mistaken and has nothing to do with President Trump's recent (strategic) interests in the territory belonging to another NATO allied. I actually planned and started to work on this scenario a very long time ago and long before 'Greeland' made headlines in the news.

This wargame however is based on WW2. While Denmark was occupied by Germany in 1940, the Danish territory of Greenland wasn't. But Greenland was important for both the Allies and Germany due to it's location and the possibilities to predict the weather in the Northern Atlantic and Arctic waters, which again was crucial information for warfare, convoys etc. in those areas. To guarantee Greenland's important position it became an American protectorate to secure the Allies this important information and at the same time fends off any Germans trying the same.

Due to this Germany illegally established several temporary weather-stations along the Greenland coast to radio back and support German forces with weather forecasts for the North Atlantic and Arctic waters. To counter them the U.S. established 'The Greenland Patrol' and deployed the U.S. Coast Guard to patrol the Greenland coast and possibly fight any German resistance. For long range patrolling and fighting ashore there were also established a complete new unit of local Danes, Norwegians and Inuits called 'The North-East Greenland Sledge Patrol', which operated dog-sleds and used U.S. equipment. They were involved in several small skirmishes with German units operating secret weather-stations. This unit was later developed into the post-war Sirius Patrol.

These are a series of periodic drawings made by a USCG serviceman which I used as inspiration for my setup:

The Rules

The fact that small units of Danes, Norwegians and Inuits in The North-East Greenland Sledge Patrol was involved in several small skirmishes with small German units operating secret weather-stations intrigued me to create a small skirmish and semi-fictional wargame to play outside in the snow (which I usually tries to do around this time of the year if weather permits).

I already have some Airfix 40mm-ish knock-offs I've used for outdoor wargames earlier. The Germans can be used as is, and I think the Americans can double up as U.S. equipped Danish/ Norwegian Dog-sledge patrols.

The rules for this game is one of my absolute favorites for small skirmish infantry wargames; 1BC (One Brain Cell Toy Soldier Rules by Pete Kautz. Last year I also made them fit a single page for ease of use and faster reference.

Preparing the game 

To play this wargame I needed a 40mm-ish scale weather-station, dogs and dog-sleights to set the scene. The weather-station was hastily improvised from an upscaled (from 00) lineside hut and a vertical tank I 3D-printed:

The dogs and dog-sleights and dogs were also re-scaled and 3D-printed for this scenario:

Then everything was given a quick coat of paint. The hut also got an overspray of 'snow spray' for Christmas decorations:

The Scenario

Late January 1945 a long range reconnaissance patrol from The North-East Greenland Sledge Patrol consisting of 4 members was patrolling the Eastern coast of Greenland. They will fight in teams of two (like they did in real life) and all are armed with rifles. Due to their dog sleighs with high maneuverability under these challenging conditions I let them move double distances while using their sleighs. I planned to give them a +1 for shooting as being experienced hunters and great shooters and have another +1 in melee for being 'elite'. Without spoiling to much of the game, they didn't actually need the +1 for shooting:

When the Sledge patrol observed a hut not marked on their map, they decided to approach it to check it out.

What they did not know at the time was that the hut was the secret weather-station Edelweiss III, which were the base of a unit of 5 armed German 'meteorologists'. The Germans will also fight in teams of 2, except for one guard on duty who will fight individually. All the Germans are also armed with rifles only:

The Game 

Turn 1

When the members from the 2 dog-sleight teams approach the hut... 

...they're observed by the German guard outside and above the hut who open fire on them and alert his 'Kameraden' in the hut:

He is not a good shoot and misses. The both Danish/Norwegian dog-sleight teams exploit the chance and hurries towards the hut to seek cover behind some large snow drifts:

The 2 first Germans exit the cabin and run into cover...

...and opens fire upon the Dog Sleight team closest to them. Both missed:

The 2 last Germans exit the cabin and seeks cover behind the corner of the hut (as else they would be in open range for the other Dog Sleight team):

They open fire upon the other Dog Sleight team but misses:

Turn 2

In the next turn the German sentry opens fire on the Dog Sleight team again, and misses again. The Dog Sleight soldiers opens fire... 

... and stuns one of the Germans who exited the hut first. The other Dog Sleight team advances closer to the hut and seek cover behind another snow drift:

Turn 3

The German sentry opens fire against those advancing Dog Sleight soldier, but misses:

The Dog Sleight soldiers uses the opportunity to rush into the German position and open fire...

...and daze both the German soldiers who exited the hut first:

The second team of Germans returns fire:

And permanently take out one of the Dog Sleight soldiers:

The other Dog Sleight team moves into a better position and open fire upon that annoying German sentry:

-And takes him out:

Turn 4

After taking out the German sentry the Dog Sleight team moves into another position and fall that other German team from behind...

... and opens fire...

...and kill them both:

That last soldier from the other Dog Sleight team approaches the (now) stunned German soldiers to seize control and take them prisoner:

Turn 5

For the German soldiers it would be reasonable to surrender at this point as they were surrounded by Dog Sleight soldiers. They must have been fanatics or something as they opened fire on their attacker as soon as they got on their feet again. The other Dog Sleight team saw what was about to happen and rushed into a better position and opened fire on the Germans:

The Germans hit the Dog Sleight soldier they open fire upon, then one of them was killed and the other dazed by the other Dog Sleight team:

Turn 6

The remaining Dog Sleight team took control on that last stunned German soldier and took him prisoner of war:

As I wrote earlier I planned to give the Dog Sleight soldiers a +1 for shooting as they were hunters and experienced marksmen. When I started to roll dice for them I found out that they didn't actually need that +1 for shooting as they were mostly rolling 5's and 6's anyway. As always when using the 1 BC (One Brain-Cell) Toy Soldier Rules this was a great game. Due to small and few units (to keep it to the prototype) it was also a very fast played skirmish wargame in only 6 turns taking some 30 minutes. -Which was long enough considering the outside temperature. 

Thanks for reading!