My Bolt Action Forces - US Army Weapons Teams 2/17/24

[MikeRC97]

Hello All,

Here are some pictures of the first of my Bolt Action forces, a late war German Heer reinforced platoon (28mm plastic figures by Warlord Games).  The force is composed of a 3 man headquarters unit, two 9 man infantry squads, a 3 man medium mortar team with spotter and a two man sniper team.



The headquarter unit is made up of an officer and two optional soldiers.  In game terms the officer can be a First or Second Lieutenant.  In reality German lieutenants wore helmets in the field but the peaked cap on this figure makes it easy to pick out on the tabletop.



Here is the first of the two infantry squads.  The Bolt Action rules are very flexible when it comes to squad composition so I built my squads based on the historical late war Heer squad (1 squad leader armed with an MP40, 1 assistant squad leader armed with an MP40, 1 machine gunner armed with an MG42, 1 assistant gunner armed with a rifle and 5 soldiers armed with rifles).



The “maneuver element” of the squad.  Some of the figures were painted years ago when I purchased the original Warlord Games plastic German Infantry set.  Since then I expanded the platoon with figures or bits from the plastic German Grenadier sprue (which includes two bodies wearing Zeltbahns), the Blitzkreig German sprue and the plastic Afrika Korps sprue.



The second infantry squad.  Both squads include one figure armed with a panzerfaust disposable hollow-charge grenade launcher (the rules allow up to four per squad).


Close-up of some of the figures from the second squad.  The NCO figure reloading his MP40 is a minor conversion; I simply cut the magazine off the weapon and glued it to his left hand.



Here is a better view of a soldier armed with a panzerfaust, another NCO and the MG42 team.  The helmet on the gunner’s belt is from a Tamiya 1/48 German Infantry sprue.  Although the 1/48 Tamiya figures are larger (28mm is closer to 1/56 scale) the bits work well on the Warlord Games figures.



The medium mortar team and spotter.  The plastic 8cm Granatwerfer 34 mortar is from the Sd.Kfz 251/2 upgrade sprue which Warlord Games sells separately (the hand holding the mortar round is also from this sprue).  I don’t think that the Germans painted mortars in late war Dunkelgelb (Dark Yellow) like the panzerfausts but I saw a 1/35 Dragon model of the Granatwerfer 34 painted that way and I really liked the way it looked.



One of the crouching figures and the prone spotter figure are from the plastic Afrika Korps set.  Some of the uniform details are not accurate for ETO Heer infantry but when painted as such it’s not really noticeable.



Sniper team, the figures are from the Warlord Games plastic Waffen SS sprue.  I painted the smocks in Splittermuster camouflage.  These are really nice figures by Warlord Games.  The faces in the older sets are often sculpted in a very cartoony way, but these figures have very realistic faces and the head with the foliage attached to the helmet cover makes a great sniper figure.



Snipers are a bit overpowered in the current edition of Bolt Action.  Due to the way the rules work, a single hit from a sniper can destroy a 3 man weapons team.  I’ll admit it’s a bit of cheese including them in my force as snipers were not part of a historical German infantry platoon, but I wanted them because the Waffen figures were so nice.



If fielded as regular quality troops, this force adds up to just over 400 points in Bolt Action so this is a good start for a German force that I can expand with AFVs and more infantry.

I have also started collecting US Infantry by Warlord Games as an opposing force but those will have to wait for now as I shift back to Napoleonics.

Any feedback is appreciated.

[Mark M Down]

A very nice looking force. I would tend to make the HQ unit only 2 man as then it becomes a small team and harder to hit. Looks like you have all the bases covered. Mortar and sniper team are the usual add ons to any Bolt Action army. Like the way in which you have used different sprues from different boxes to create your army. Good ideas.

[Tim Haslam]

So which of the super cool German vehicles are you thinking of adding to this force?

[MikeRC97]

A very nice looking force. I would tend to make the HQ unit only 2 man as then it becomes a small team and harder to hit.

Good call out, thanks for the feedback.

So which of the super cool German vehicles are you thinking of adding to this force?

Nothing too exciting, I’m thinking a Panzer IV or StuG III.  Rubicon Models makes some really nice 1/56 scale sets that I’d like to pick up.

[Tim Haslam]

Well my vote from Rubicon, would be something more exotic, panzer IV’s and StuGs are ten a penny.
Hetzer is a cool looking thing?
Or halftracks to transport your lovely figures?

Best of luck

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Nothing too exciting, I’m thinking a Panzer IV or StuG III.  Rubicon Models makes some really nice 1/56 scale sets that I’d like to pick up.

They certainly do.
The Hetzer is a lovely model.
http://ultravanillasmurf.blogspot.com/search/label/Jagdpanzer%2038%28t%29

[MikeRC97]

I’m back with my second Bolt Action force, a United States reinforced platoon (28mm plastic figures by Warlord Games).  The force is composed of a 2 man headquarters unit, two 12 man infantry squads and a 2 man bazooka team.



The HQ unit is made up of a First Lieutenant and a Platoon Sargeant.  The First Lieutenant figure has a body from the Perry Miniatures US Infantry set and a head and arms from the Warlord Games US Infantry set that came out in 2018.  I had hoped to mix and match parts from the two sets, but the Perry figures are noticeably smaller that the Warlord figures so this is the only figure I kit-bashed.  The Perry figures are modeled wearing the standard issue wool trousers, the Warlord figures are modeled wearing the herringbone twill trousers often worn in combat.



The First Lieutenant's rank insignia is a single bar helmet marking.  The Platoon Sargeant has NCO stripes on both arms (3 chevrons and 2 rockers).  The rank insignias are decals that are included in the Warlord Games set.



Below is the first of the two infantry squads.  As I did with my German force, I based the squad on a historical WWII US Army squad, except that I gave the squad leader a Thompson SMG (officially the squad leader was issued a M1 Garand).  One of the figures is armed with a Browning Automatic Rifle.



Here is a close-up of some of the figures in the first squad.  I’m a big fan of Perry Miniatures but I prefer these newer Warlord US Infantry figures.  Some of the heads are from the Warlord Games US Airborne set.



There are five poses on the sprue, all of which are good.  My only complaint with the set is that there are only 3 pairs of arms holding M1 Garands on each sprue, the other arms are holding various weapons such as SMGs or a bazooka.  It would have been better if there were a “command sprue” with the other squad weapons and more M1 Garands on the main sprue (as is the case with the Perry set).

Here is the second infantry squad.  The figure with the Thompson SMG is the squad leader.  Rifle platoon squad leaders were Staff Sargeants (rank insignia 3 chevrons and 1 rocker).



Below is a close-up of some of the figures in the second squad. The middle figure in the front row in the picture below is a conversion – I removed the figure’s shotgun and added a M1 Garand.  This figure is modeled as an Assistant Squad Leader (the 3 chevrons on his arm indicating his rank of Sargeant) in case I want to divide the squad in two.



The figures in this set are really well done.  By mixing and matching arms and bodies you can create a lot of variety in the poses.  The three riflemen below are made from the same body with three different pairs of arms.



The three riflemen below are made from identical pairs of arms with three different bodies.



Here is the bazooka team.  The bazooka in the set is the M1 with the wooden foregrip.  This version of the weapon was first issued in late 1942.



That’s all for now.  I have a Rubicon Models M4 Sherman to add to this force, my German force still needs some armor.

[Grumpy Gnome]

Looking good! I also like how you mix and match bits from different kits.

[CapnJim]

Your GIs look good.  And so do your Germans from earlier. 

[MikeRC97]

It has been a couple of years but I’m finally back at it with tanks for both of my Bolt Action forces.  First for the Germans, the iconic Panzer IV H.  The model is the Rubicon Models Panzer IV Ausf F/F2/G/H (kit 280077).



I really like this kit, there are options for each of the different variants, and the model is easy to assemble.  I modelled the Panzer IV as an ausf H manufactured late in 1943 (often referred to as “mid-production”).  This variant was common in Italy, Northwest Europe, and the Eastern Front in 1944.



Despite the many options in the kit, there are some minor accuracy issues when assembled as a mid-production ausf H.  I modified some of these details using bits from the Rubicon Models German Stowage Set 2.  For example, I replaced the flat S hooks on the hull with a pair of upright C hooks from the stowage set as this was the arrangement on mid-production ausf H Panzer IVs.

Some of the OVM (“On Vehicle Materials”) such as the tank jack are a bit flat on the model, so I replaced them with bits from Stowage Set 2.



Rubicon sells a metal gun barrel and resin track replacement parts for this kit, both of which I included in my build.  There’s nothing wrong with the plastic parts included in the kit but these extras are nicely detailed and are not terribly expensive so I couldn’t resist.

The three-tone German camo was airbrushed on with Vallejo Model Air paints.  I used oil dot filters to fade and blend the colors.



Next up is a M4 Sherman (75mm) for the US force.  The model is the Rubicon Models M4 Sherman / Firefly IC (kit 280060).



Another great model from Rubicon, out of the box this kit makes a very accurate version of the M4 seen widely in Northwest Europe in 1944.  There are a few minor options in the kit such as square or round external air cleaners on the rear of the hull.  I used the square air cleaners which were more common based on my research (the instructions did not include this information).



Both kits include waterslide decal sheets comparable to the ones included in scale model kits, but I found them difficult to work with, the decals would ball up and twist easily and it took some work (and no small amount of patience) to get them to lay flat on the model.

Dried mud was applied to both models using resin medium mixed with paint and both models received a coat of dirt / dust using pigments.



If it isn’t already obvious, I highly recommend these kits by Rubicon Models.  With the addition of these tanks, I now have two 600-point Bolt Action forces, perfect for a small point game.  To get to 1,000 points I want to paint another squad, more weapon teams, and a light tank or heavy armored car for each force.  So more to come!

[Grumpy Gnome]

Great work!

[Basementboy]

They look fantastic! Love the camo scheme on the panzer

[CapnJim]

Very good job on those tanks.  Well done!

[Hitman]

Great looking figures and tank. How are the rules for Bolt Action? I have never played it before.
Regards,
Hitman
😎

[MaleGriffin]

Lovely collection! Nicely done!