Late-war German Progress

I managed to get things mostly sorted out today.  Started basing my infantry, which is something of a pain.  Really wish I had the money for the nice scenic bases, but this will do.  Still need to assemble my third Grenadier Platoon as well.  So, currently my available vehicle units consist of:

3x King Tiger
6x StuG G
2x StuG IV
1x Jagdpanther
1x Brummbar (+1 in disrepair)
1x Bergepanther
2x RSO Tractors


Infantry units include:

2x HQ (SMG)
2x HQ (Rifle)
1x HQ (SMG/PzKnacker)
12x Grenadiers (Rifle/MG)
2x Mortars
2x Snipers

The color of the two King Tigers (and the semi-painted Brummbar) is the base I am going for with all my tanks.  Its a Tamiya spray for Dark Yellow I believe.  Should still have a can.  Otherwise, I did pick up a can of the Late-war German Vehicle spraypaint that is sold with the battlefront stuff, so might try to paint up my brummbar thats missing parts to see how it looks.

Once I get them based, I need to settle on some sort of camo.  I tried playing around with my airbrush awhile back, which you can kinda see on the Brummbar.  The Jagdpanther was painted by someone else, so it might be getting a new paint job soon.

Thinking of running a Begleit StuG list (the StuG's will almost all have Assault Rifle armed troops riding on them), but not sure exactly how many to model with the riders.  Some of the purists insist that if you have it you should model it... but considering if you choose not to have them it looks odd, I was thinking of buying a single pack of riders, putting them on three models, and the other three will simply have bases of the Begleit AR troops 'behind' the StuG to signify their presence.  I can always buy three more StuG's and another pack of riders later if I need to.

As for the infantry, like I mentioned, I have another Grenadier platoon that needs to be assembled.  I also need to get ahold of a HMG platoon, some more HQ options, observers, and likely a Mortar platoon.

With the Infantry Aces campaign going, 2 Grenadier platoons, 2 bases of Mortars, and 2 bases of HMG's (along with HQ) should cover it.  Next month, just planned to expand into more of all of the above rather than try anything too out there.  At 900 points, for the final phase, I think my armor will make their presence known.

My objective is to have all of my infantry at least base coated by mid-week, and if I could actually get a platoon done (to include the test models and reviews) that would be even better.  Should I have an amazingly productive week and do that early on, maybe even base and seal them before next week.  Not holding my breath though.

Tools

(Written Oct 19, 2009)

A thought just came to me, on the nature of tools. Just how certain people can make better use of higher quality tools, and how sometimes it doesnt make a difference.

Take a hammer. For most folks, a simple claw hammer is all they will ever need. If shown an armorers shop, with the dozen or so hammers laying around, they could use any of them to do the job they need done (likely driving a nail in the wall), but would have no real idea how to properly use the tool for the job it was designed to do. Can it do the job they want it to? Sure! But it is much more useful in the hands of someone who knows what it was designed to do and can do that.

This concept can be applied to just about everything that exists in life. I love using computers as an example. Alot of folks get worked up over the PC vs Mac/Apple issue, but its the same thing as I mention above. I prefer a Mac myself, but thats because from time to time I have to use that percision tool for its intended purpose. If your only task for a computer is checking e-mail, surfing the internet, maybe downloading some music.. then a PC is perfect for you. Inexpensive, mass produced, and more than capable of doing the job you require. When you want it to start doing more advanced photo or video editing (or even running multiple 'high end' apps at once) and you start getting problems. Thats not taking into account the security and system issues. But, if you buy a Mac and all your doing is checking e-mail and playing solitaire... well, your probably wondering why it cost so much.

(For those of you who are going to start spouting off about gaming.. the same principle could be applied to a regular use PC vs a gaming PC... or a PC and an xBox, which is more or less just a very specific gaming computer)

It just sprang to mind while working on these airbrushes. My last attempt at airbrushing involved a $15 kit from Harbor Freight and an Air Compressor that was more suited to filling tires and running small tools. These things are quite a bit more, and the compressor is a tiny little thing, and had I bought them all new it would of cost me a small fortune. You get folks who only use them for basic applications, like putting a base coat of paint on a big model.. and in that case, the cheap $25-50 models from most hobby stores will work, powered by a can of compressed air. But when I tried to use that cheap one to paint minis, I was fairly disappointed by the results. I wonder if having the right tool for the job will make a difference, or if its an issue with me?