“Whilst The Allies Laid Their Plans And Marshalled Their Forces…”

“…The defenders of Hitler’s Atlantikwall, the coastal fortifications of North Western Europe, were not idle.”

These four plastic 15mm miniatures are sold by “Battlefront Miniatures” and can be found inside the company’s “Hit The Beach” starter set for “Flames Of War”. The figures consist of four riflemen. Together they form the final MG34 and K98 Rifle team I require for my (minimum-strength) German Panzergrenadier Platoon.

As with all my other “FoW” German soldiers, the figures were initially super-glued onto wooden strips, before being primed in “Vallejo” German Fieldgrey WWII, shaded using “Citadel” Nuln Oil, and dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” German Fieldgrey WWII. Their details were then ‘picked out’ predominantly using “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna, Gunmetal, Buff, German Camouflage Dark Green, Heavy Brown and a series of “Citadel” Shades.

"Flames Of War" WIPs - The three Riflemen have had all their details 'picked out'

Having already ‘bloodied the nose’ of my Germans recently with a couple of play-tests through the “Hit The Beach” Starter Set Quick Start Core Rules, I’m now focusing upon building a 50-point strong Beach Defence Grenadier Company for some ‘serious wargaming’. This force’s organisation is taken from the excellent D-Day German – Forces In Normandy, 1944 book by “Battlefront Miniatures” and will let me utilise all of the figures I’ve previously painted, plus encourage me to pick up some additional units over time.

For starters, I plan to bolster my first Grenadier Platoon’s MG42 & K98 rifle teams from five stands to its maximum of seven. I actually need two of these platoons to ultimately field a legal Beach Defence force, so at some point will need to pigment a second Unit Leader team mounted on a small base. Then, once I’ve completed eight four-figure stands in total I’ll have the option of deploying two minimum-strength platoons as opposed to just one at full-strength.

"Catalyst Game Labs" - The Stormcrow is slowly having it hull repainted light grey and white

In addition, I’ve started work on the third of my Weekly Challenges, randomly chosen via a deck of playing cards. On this occasion I’ve got to paint a single 2mm-6mm miniature, so thought it would be a good time to complete the second Stormcrow I own by “Catalyst Game Labs”, and resultantly provide my Weird War Two German forces with the option of employing three medium-sized mechs on the battlefield.

I always thought that the original palette I used on my first “second generation OmniMech” was a little too dark for my liking, and indeed have since returned to the model so as to ‘pick out’ its shoulders with some eye-catching yellow. I have therefore gone with a somewhat lighter grey for this second incarnation using some “Vallejo” German Fieldgrey WWII, whilst still replicating the yellow shoulder flashes and light grey feet of the first.