My Ongoing WW1 Project: UPDATE on stolen Figs

[Doc Twilight]

In order to keep myself focused, and to give me a way to review for myself the tasks that I've accomplished, I'm going to attempt to keep a "mini blog" here of sorts, chronicling my efforts as things work their way to completion.

The wife and I have been looking for an excuse to begin a WW1 project for some time. It was only a matter of getting off our duffs and doing it, and collecting a few thoughts on what we'd like to do. Now that we have at least two rulesets that can be used for WW1 Skirmish - Through Mud and Blood and Triumph and Tragedy, we can actually look at doing this thing.

 Initially, there was the matter of choosing which theatre of the war. Several options here. Many of them quite interesting. Ultimately, we agreed that any front we did would, at least initially, include some tanks (I've been looking for an excuse to do some Mk IVs for a while), which helped to narrow down the choices a bit, and some armored cars (since somebody I happen to know, err, pretty well, has a company that makes armored cars for the conflict). We also needed a focus point. I suggested to her an old idea I'd had after reading about the Battles of the Isonzo on the Italian Front. Essentially, that our troops could fight over the same piece of ground over and over again, dynamically affecting that piece of ground (with their digging, their artillery barrages, and such) and providing a very interesting alternative to the "trench assault" mindset that is present in many WW1 games, as well as the general lack of knowledge the average miniatures commander has of his terrain, since he very rarely fights over the same battlefield more than once or twice in a given year.

That in mind, I began to imagine a town. Something near the major lines, but isolated enough that it had, for whatever reason, been more or less only minorly affected by the Great War up till now. Perhaps it had been bombed a few times or otherwise ignored, perhaps there had been fighting there in 1914, and then the town had shifted out of the limelight until the offensives of 1918. Perhaps it was simply located in a backwater area, or along a backwater front. I initially had three places in mind - somewhere along the Western Front in 1918, somewhere in the Sinai-Palestine Front in 1917-1918, or somewhere on the Salonkia Front, which was particularly notorious for being static, with the same miserable battles over and over again over the same few villages, the same bridge, etc.

Ultimately, my choices lead me to the Western Front. There are a few reasons for this.

- Miniatures for the Middle East are fairly easy to acquire these days, and with the release of the Gripping Beast Woodbine Design range, there is a realistic spread of support weapons for at least the British and the Turks, and with a bit of creativity, the Brigade Games Asia Korps would do well for the Germans. Conveniently enough, one of the battles that most interests me from this period, Second Gaza, involves Tanks, Poison Gas, and the whole shebang. So plenty of excuses for throwing in the occasional dusty clanker or armored car, as well as gas masked troops, to make for some unusual situations. Also, middle eastern terrain for the period is very easy to get, lately. MBA, in particular, makes a wonderful range of Middle Eastern terrain in 28mm, with the advantage that all of these can be taken apart to represent ruined structures. Very useful indeed for a dynamic environment affected by the actions of the commanders for the forces involved in our little project.

A few problems here, however.

First, and this was a minor but important consideration, I was bound and determined that I would eventually do up some Austro-Hungarians, and since nobody makes the Austro-Hungarians in the appropriate uniform (either for the troops who served as advisors, artillerymen, machine gunners, and garrison troops, or for the proposed, but never completely mobilized, Orient Korps), that didn't seem like an immediate possibility. Also, so far as I know, there's only one company doing 28mm Austro-Hungarians in helmets... for some reason everybody seems to think that the Austro-Hungarian army was comprised entirely of six foot, four inch tall nordic men with curly moustaches and wearing Carpathian caps. Very proud of my Hungarian heritage, and yes, many of my relatives fought in the KuK during the Great War, but I'm sorry to say that none of them bare the slightest resemblance to this in the photos I've seen;) My uncle once told me that an older relative told -him- "only a fool goes about on the front line without a helmet".

There was also the problem of Turks. My favorite Ottoman range is currently manufactured by Woodbine Design, but the shipping rates from GB to the US are killer at the moment, and the price of GB miniatures, compared to others of like quality, is rather high.

Second, Mina pointed out early on that, if we wanted others to participate, they'd probably want a few options for armies, versatility. Unfortunately, the selection of non-British/non-Ottoman troops for this theatre is pretty poor. GB, again, makes some exceptionally good troops for the French in the Dardenelles (and let's be frank, I wouldn't mind making up a bit of a yarn about a few colonial troops thrown into the fray slightly later in the war), but the problem is that support weapons are not yet released for them. No rifle grenades, no VB launchers, etc. Somewhat limited use there.

Then, there was the Salonkia/Balkan Front option. I must admit that I have a real fondness and fascination with this, most backwater of the European fronts. So many countries involved, so huge potential there, and little Bulgaria doing a great deal of butt kicking for much of the time. I first gained my fascination for this years ago, when, as a kid, I signed up for a WW1 PBEM on a whim during a boring summer, and ended up with Bulgaria and "Foxxy Ferdy". A lifelong interest in the front has followed, although, of course, it's matured considerably over time.

Was there armor in Salonkia?  Well, a tiny bit. Certainly the Austro-Hungarians used it in the Balkan Front (and I just happen to know a guy who makes a nice looking Romfell, I do...), and the British apparently sent at least three tanks to the front (though I don't know if they actually -did- anything there). Not a game ender by itself if there aren't tanks (ww1 was an infantry war, after all), but worth a thought. And hey, there were always those armored trains!

The problem here was twofold. First of all, terrain is a problem. Getting pictorial references for appropriate Balkan terrain is hard enough, but most ranges of European terrain in 28mm are either geared for Russia or France, neither of which is "quite right" for the Balkans. I could scratch build it, but, I would prefer to focus my efforts on other bits of the project, and I'm not much of an architect, at any rate.

The other problem was, once again, miniatures. I wanted very much to do some Bulgarians - it seemed very inappropriate to start WITHOUT Bulgarians, but frankly, there is only one source for Bulgarians at the moment, and I have been warned away from that range with more than just a friendly suggestion.
"Run, don't walk," I believe was the expression on this very message board. Now, that doesn't mean there won't be a dedicated Salonkia Range eventually, but in the short term, without Bulgarians, it seemed somehow less exciting. (And yes, I know they could be converted from Russians, but not quite the same).

So I ended up focusing upon France. Mina agreed. Lots of flexibility in terms of the armies involved (Americans, Belgians, British, French, Portuguese, the Russian Legion, Austro-Hungarians, Germans), especially if one aims for late war (1917 or 1918), plenty of excuses to use the occasional armored beast. Easy access to terrain, and a relative wealth of available figures. So, that, in a nutshell, was how the little town of "Le Chevre" was born. And I will be piecing it together over the next few weeks (more on that later.)

Next task was selecting armies. Now, Mina and I agreed we'd do forces for both sides, each of us a force for the Entente, and the Triple Alliance. She decided fairly early on in our discussions that she wanted to do Germans. Somebody'd have to do 'em anyway, and there are loads of great looking WW1 German figs for the 1917-1918 period of the war. So, that was easy for her.

I myself had a bit of a quandry when selecting Allied opponents for her, however. I initially wanted to do Americans, but I recently painted hundreds of Interwar period Americans for our ACW2 gaming, and I decided I wanted to do something slightly different. The initial thought was Harlem Hellfighters, different enough, very unusual, quite dashing and heroic. Perfect. Unfortunately, selection of available troops is not good, and for Mud and Blood, particularly, representing support weapons is simply critical.

So what else? Thought that French Colonial troops - Senegalese, specifically - would be very cool. But again, lack of support weapons for these guys, and only one manufacturer thus far (Gripping Beast) in 28mm. So what else? British are fine and dandy, but very common in WW1 projects. So I decided to go completely off the deep end. That's right, I ended up with good old Pork and Beans. The Portuguese.

Enough has been said by my Portuguese friends here on their organization; I'll simply add that the Portuguese were on the Western Front beginning in January, 1917, were badly savaged in the German Spring Offensive, and then re-deployed to the front around July, where they continued to fight for the rest of the war (contrary to popular belief, they actually did fight more than one battle). They were attached to the British throughout their time on the front, and despite some real disasters for them (particularly at Lys in April, 1918), they did manage to redeem themselves during the course of the fighting. On the other hand, it's hard to call them "elite", which suits me just fine. I like a challenge.

So, as it stands now, we have ordered the figures, and begun painting. After several days of searching for the "right" figs, Mina chose to purchase her Germans from Great War miniatures, and I chose to do the same with my Portuguese. Conveniently enough, they wore a cut of uniform identical to the British Serge, albeit in a blue grey color, and were issued with British weapons, so it's really only a matter of painting them in different colors.

For initial armor support, Mina has selected an A7V from Old Glory, and I have selected a MkIV Hermaphrodite, from the same. Appropriate for Mina, as the A7V was first used in April, 1918. And for me, since MkIVs are available in relatively large numbers, in support of the British (and their Portuguese allies, though of course, the crews and vehicles were British.)

Painting has begun apiece. I've painted six initial "Pork and Beans" and finished my MkIV this evening. The Pork and Beans need a dip, flock, and sealer. The tank needs sealer, but otherwise, ready to go.

Enough rambling for now. I'm looking forward to the project, and will fill in more details in the days that come. Hopefully, in my next post, I'll have photos for you of MkIV no. 12977M1 "Mithras."

-Doc

[commissarmoody]

You could always do one of the many Czech Legions that were formed on the East/West and Italian fronts. My sister in law is Czech and I spent all last summer over there so I have a thing for them Bohemians.

[Ray Rivers]

Looking forward to see your project progress!

Portuguese... interesting choice!

[commissarmoody]

LEt me know if you need some Great War brits, I got a ton of them just siting around and no one to play with.

[Baldrick]

Sounds like a fun project.  I'll be waiting with some anticipation to see how it pans out.

[Plynkes]

I wouldn't say the cut of the Portuguese uniform was identical to the British one. The Portuguese jacket had a high standing collar which gives it a very different look to what the Tommies wore (making it resemble, say, a US jacket more). The buttons were also hidden under a flap. You could argue that such things are not really noticeable on a 28mm figure, though.

Are you planning to have a go at converting and making those groovy fluted helmets? That would be cool, as nothing says WWI Portugal quite like them. I understand they also wore the ordinary Brodie though, which gives an easy escape route if one wants to take it.

Hope you'll post pictures of them when you're done. I'd like to see some Western Front Portuguese in action.

[Doc Twilight]

Ok, Plynkes. You've got me on that one. I overstated the case:) But as you say, close enough for 28mm. Truth be told, it's one of those ranges I'd like to do with my own company (along with some other 28mm WW1 stuff that just isn't done at the moment), but it's a very slow thing to build up to.

As for the fluted helmets, yes, I do hope to get some of them into the army. Want to practice a bit with my greenstuff, but I suspect it wouldn't be impossible, especially using the Brodie as a base. I had originally thought that I'd use the covered helmets for the base, but when I got a closer look at actual photos of the fluted helmets, it became apparent that the Brodie's dishpan shape would be more appropriate. Either way, I agree, it's something that'd be very nice to see in the field. The sources seem to differ as to how common they were, but I've seen too many photos with them present to believe that they were all discarded before the CEP saw any action.

As for my progress this week, so far....

The Mark IV Hermaphrodite, "Mithras" is done, dirtied up, rusted, etc. I think it looks pretty decent for a tabletop model. If I could do anything differently, I'd use the salt chipping technique I used on my Lancia IZM, but in truth, the method takes a while to do, and quite frankly, I want to get this project done sooner than later. Don't want another one of those half finished things on my shelf that "could have been". I am still looking for "better looking" mud that actually handles the rigors of tabletop handling well. Haven't found that yet, but looking. MiG Pigments makes a very nice mud color, but I have used the rust pigment extensively, and my main complaint is that, while it dries beautifully, the MiG stuff is simply too thin and too hard to mix to use as effectively as it might be, otherwise.

As of this evening, all figs are assembled and based, and the basic paint jobs for nine of the Pork n' Beans are done, with another eight very close to being done. To finish those that have their basic shades done, I will need to dip the figs  and flock them. Mina seems to think that dipping would enhance the shading of the figs, since the blue grey is, after all, a very pale color, and doesn't lend itself well to contrast. After much debate, I have to say I'm inclined to agree, although I almost want to use the very lightest shade of Army Painter, so as not to give -too- dark a look to the figs. Will probably dip one of each (the light, and the medium, the dark is far too dark for what I'm doing) and see what "looks better".

Mina has selected a very interesting composition for her force, based upon her reading and using the recommendations from the Lard Island blokes about building a stormtrooper detachment late war. Among other things, she has given them two 37mm Anti-Tank guns, and some very nice specialist troops. The Great War figs are beautiful, of course, but the flash is... frustrating. We'll see if she tears her hair out putting them together this weekend.  Her plan is to do a company of stormtroopers, and then a company of regular old infantry to back them up.  I must say, on this, that the 37mm ATG is one of the most unusual models I've seen. When I first saw the bits for it, I was convinced they'd shorted her a barrel and a gunshield. That'll teach me not to do my homework...

Anyway, as a result, of her selections, I decided to up the ante a bit with my initial force, and I'm looking at adding a second armored vehicle. A Lanchester armored car looks likely, although a Whippet could be fun. Something different, at any rate. I assembled her A7V the other night while I was working on my MkIV (she hates putting the damned things together, too many bad experiences with Battlefront tanks), and it's a real beauty of a model. Surprisingly little flash for an Old Glory model (actually, very little if any, in this case), and she's already primed it in Army Painter grey. She has found a very interesting camo scheme, involving blue grey with blotches of green and (I think) white (don't have the photo in front of me), which is one of the more interesting paint jobs I've seen (and totally legit, she looked through every photo she could find to pick a scheme that was 'imposing enough' for her purposes).

I believe she'll also end up with an Ehrhardt. I know a guy who happens to have a few dozen tucked away;)

One brief thought. I am impressed with the general look and feel of the OG vehicle kits, particularly given their reasonable pricetag compared to other WW1 vehicles, but I believe they may be slightly undersized (ie: 25mm as opposed to 28mm, which is the scale of their own line of WW1 figs). This is not as noticeable with the A7V,  but the MkIV simply feels a bit smaller than I think it should.  The hatches in particular seem awfully tiny for my GWM soldiers. (Granted, they wouldn't be wearing full kit when operating such a vehicle, however...) It looks fine, and will do fine,  but worth a mention. I'm not sure if, when I choose to do other MkIV tanks, I'll stay with the OGs or go with something else.


Will also begin the process of ordering the terrain, shortly. I've found many of the buildings I'd like to use at Miniature Building Authority, but I also have need of a European church, and Hovels has a great set, which conveniently enough comes in a bombed out version as well, which seems as if it'd be appropriate for the type of environment I've talked about. This way, if the church becomes the focus of artillery or intense fighting, I can switch it out for the ruin. My only regret is that, of late, MBA has stopped doing their "convertible" buildings in the European range, and even discontinued some, at least in 28mm. Which means that some of the buildings will not be as handily "destroyable" as I'd hoped, but there will be enough of them, plus the general affect of removing floors and roofs, to get the look I'm going for, I suspect. I'll probably make ruined versions, as needed, using foamcore.

At any rate, that's all I've got to report at the moment. A few days ago our new vehicles came in at Black Army (Garford-Putilov and DaVinci's tank), and I've been distracted getting those unpacked, into inventory, and photographed, along with redoing the company website. When that's all done, I'll try to get some photos up that will be illustrative of what I've been working on.
(Yes - and that photo of the painted Romfell I keep promising Commissar Moody;) )

-Doc

[Plynkes]

While idly thumbing through a book whilst in the smallest room I chanced upon a rather unfortunate discovery regarding our Portuguese friends. I had always assumed that they wore standard 08 pattern webbing like the Brits (as it certainly looks just like it). Turns out they had their own: It's Portuguese 1911 pattern. At first glance identical, but upon closer inspection there are only four ammo pouches on each side of the belt buckle, unlike the British webbing which has five each side.

I swear they do this just to make life difficult for people who want to use Great War Brits as Portuguese! I really think you can probably file this with the other things under "nobody will notice in 28mm." Nonetheless it is good to be armed with the knowledge, as when some know-it-all challenges you about it you can coolly turn around and say "Oh yes, I knew that, but I didn't think it was worth the bother altering the figures, as only the most pedantic of twerps would ever bring such a thing up" instead of standing there stupidly not knowing what to say.

One thing you might want to bear in mind though, is that the Portuguese had their (I believe green) blanket rolls fixed over the top and sides of their packs in the same manner as the French and Germans (and, annoyingly the exact same way the Brits didn't). So it might be worth getting out the Green Stuff if your figures are wearing backpacks and giving them some blankets.

[Doc Twilight]

While idly thumbing through a book whilst in the smallest room I chanced upon a rather unfortunate discovery regarding our Portuguese friends. I had always assumed that they wore standard 08 pattern webbing like the Brits (as it certainly looks just like it). Turns out they had their own: It's Portuguese 1911 pattern. At first glance identical, but upon closer inspection there are only four ammo pouches on each side of the belt buckle, unlike the British webbing which has five each side.

I swear they do this just to make life difficult for people who want to use Great War Brits as Portuguese! I really think you can probably file this with the other things under "nobody will notice in 28mm." Nonetheless it is good to be armed with the knowledge, as when some know-it-all challenges you about it you can coolly turn around and say "Oh yes, I knew that, but I didn't think it was worth the bother altering the figures, as only the most pedantic of twerps would ever bring such a thing up" instead of standing there stupidly not knowing what to say.

One thing you might want to bear in mind though, is that the Portuguese had their (I believe green) blanket rolls fixed over the top and sides of their packs in the same manner as the French and Germans (and, annoyingly the exact same way the Brits didn't). So it might be worth getting out the Green Stuff if your figures are wearing backpacks and giving them some blankets.

Good, and frustrating, info to have, mate. Thank you. Oddly enough, I seem to run into those twerps mostly at convention/demo games. They seem to congregate there. I think it's some sort of hive mind thing;)

As for greenstuff alteration I believe I have decided firmly that the next batch of Portuguese (ie: the second company) will NOT be made using the GWM Brits. I love the GWM sculpts, but the flash is simply too painful to deal with. It's slowed me down tremendously, and I'm not about to repeat my "Old Glory" experience (painted 1,000 figs, cleaning off every bit of flash, and that nearly broke me). So, I suspect the next group will be Musketeer, or perhaps Gripping Beast. Any suggestions?

In either case, as those lines are somewhat more friendly to Greenstuff (being better cast), I will probably do the more serious alterations to those. Not sure if I'll remove the extra ammo pouch, but the blanket roll would be interesting to add, at least to some of them. Still working on that fluted helmet thing too, which I would like to get on a few of these GWM figs; if not, however, they'll certainly be in the next batch.

Anyway, if nothing else, these minor differences are enough to justify considering having a few figs made up. Really do want to get my own WW1 range going one of these days.

-Doc

[Plynkes]

Well the Gripping Beast ones on the one hand have their backpacks as optional extras that you have to buy separately (and so you could just leave them off entirely and thus the blanket rolls are no longer an issue). On the other hand the basic figure was designed for Gallipoli and so they don't have gas mask bags, which I think Portuguese should have.

The Musketeer ones are early war in caps, so you will have to source some new heads with Brodie helmets unless you are making your own fluted helmets (and you also have the same gas mask issue as above), .

I think if it were me I would persist with GWM, annoying casting flaws and all, as they seem the best suited. Old Glory and Renegade may be alternative options, as they both do late war Brits, but I haven't seen them with my own eyes. If you were to produce some of your own I would seriously consider getting some. Not sure how commericial a prospect that would be, though. I would love to see them, but not sure if they would sell in great numbers.


By the way, this plate from the OOP Andrew Mollo/Pierre Turner book might be of use to you, if you don't have a copy:

[Muskie]

Lotta typing, you remind me of me.  I'm curious to see some of these Portuguese, I'm so used to WW2 when the peninsula was neutral.  Don't see a lot of Portuguese figures in this period, they had their golden age in the Age of Sail, I guess that is when I always picture Portugal in miniatures.

[Doc Twilight]

Plynkes -

Fair point on Musketeer and GB. I may try the Renegade pieces. The shipping to the states is rather high, but the price of the figs may be low enough to offset the cost.

I can't say much about it at present, but we are definitely plotting out a 28mm WW1 range, which will include some neglected subjects, including some things and fronts I believe you've mentioned here before. The plan is to actually start working on them once the "secret project" I've been working on is released later this summer. The Portuguese are definitely something I'd like to do. Like you, I'm not sure of the market, but I suspect that at least a few people might be interested in picking them up. At least we're talking about a period that's growing in popularity.

As for the uniform pictures, thanks, I didn't have that one, though I did see one of the images (the shirtless staff officer) during a web search. I will add them to the collection. One of the main images I've been using is this one, from the War Museum in Lisbon.
The color is a lighter shade of blue grey, which is consistent with some watercolours I've seen. That said, I'd bet anything that dye lots varied considerably (just like any other uniforms in this, or any war.) Still love that fluted helmet. Gotta figure out how to do that properly!



Muskie -

I've always been fascinated by the "lesser known armies" in big wars. My favorite story is a story told to me by a professor, years ago, when I asked him what the Portuguese did on the Western Front. He did point out that some of them performed quite bravely, and that they were more capable later in 1918, but he told the same famous story that a lot of folks here have heard versions of.

Essentially, in April of 1918 when the Germans broke through the Portuguese lines at Lys, there were hundreds of deserters who literally ran away without firing a shot. When British Command learned of the breakthrough, they dispatched the only unit available to plug one of the holes in the line, a unit of bicycle infantry. Somewhere between the front line and the line of retreat, the Portuguese deserters ran into the British bicyclists. Supposedly, some of the Portuguese troops "beat up" the British bicyclists and stole their bicycles before riding as fast as they could to the rear.

I'm hoping my "Pork and Beans" hold up a bit better;)

-Doc

[Doc Twilight]

7/11/10

Yesterday evening, I finished the initial paint on the Portuguese Rifle Platoon. They consist of the following:

- 4 x Rifle Sections, 8 Riflemen + 1 NCO
- 1 x Bomber Sections, 11 Bombers + 1 NCO
- 1 x Lewis Gun Section (2 x Lewis Gunners, 2 x Assistant Gunners)
- 1 x Vickers HMG
- 1 x Stokes Mortar Team
- 1 x "Toffee Apple" Mortar Team
- 4 x Officers (Company Commander, Platoon Commander, Sgt. Major, British Liason Officer)

They will be supported by 1 x MKIV Hermaphrodite ("Mithras") and 1 x Whippet Tank ("Meteor") (British vehicles and crews)

The list is probably low on LMGs; however, the Portuguese were chronically short on light machine guns in the early part of 1918, due to high demand. I've given them enough for basic fire support, at the very least, and may in fact have been too generous.

This evening I dipped/varnished the Portuguese, and they'll need to dry for the next 24 hours or so. Following that I can commence with basing, and have some pictures up.

The vehicles are moving along nicely, and essentially complete. Finished the Whippet yesterday evening.

I have also provisionally begun work on my Austro-Hungarians, and I'm currently painting up a Romfell in appropriate colors. (None of them made it to the Western Front, but I wanted to have an excuse to use one of them from time to time.) Should be interesting.

More as things develop,

Doc

[Muskie]

Waiting for the pictures...

[Doc Twilight]

7/28/10

Well, yes, I owe you all pictures, but the camera seems to have been misplaced. I will have it tomorrow, however, if all goes well, and will start posting some images, finally... if that doesn't work, will just use the old camera, or the phone, or -something- as I am anxious to share.

In the meanwhile, an update on my progress.

The Portuguese are, I am happy to say, finished and flocked. There is one minor bit left to do -dullcoating. Because I use the "Army Painter" system for some of my 28mms, and these were in that category, I always wait at least two weeks after dipping, because of the tendency of the Army Painter shade to trap moisture, and hence, get that dreaded "fuzzing effect" one often gets when it's too humid to properly seal something.

In addition, I have painted several vehicles.  For my Portuguese, a British MkIV Hermaphrodite (from Old Glory), and a Whippet (Brigade). For Jen/Mina's Germans, an Ehrhardt (Black Army). For my Austro-Hungarians, a Romfell (Black Army).

The Austro-Hungarians, purchased from Scarab, arrived very quickly, so quickly in fact that I have recieved and painted them all within the last two weeks;) I am generally pleased with the Scarab miniatures. There was very little flash involved, few fiddly bits, and a good size and heft. They paint up well. My only objection is the over-abundance of bushy moustaches. If I never paint another handlebar moustache in my life, it will be too soon... For those interested in the size of Scarab, I have an unpainted Scarab mini from the collection, which I would like to photograph when compared to Brigade's Harlem Hellfighters, and a Great War miniature (Probably one of my British or Americans.) I'll try to get that in the first batch of photo posts tomorrow.

The Austro-Hungarians are organized as a Sturmpatroule, or Austro-Hungarian Stormtrooper Platoon, comprised of the following:

1 x Leutnant
1 x Senior NCO

4 x 8 Man Stormtrooper Squads w/6 Stormtroopers, 1 Zugsfuhrer, and one Tizedes (essentially an assistant squad leader, or corporal)
2 x Schwartzlosse HMG
1 x Schwartzlosse in LMG configuration
2 x Light Flamethrower Operators
1 x Heavy Flamethrower Team (Operator and Fuel Assistant)

So far, I have painted one of our Romfells (again, in period appropriate colors, obviously) to allow them a fun and different support option. Because the Germans in the area of the Austro-Hungarian deployment on the Western Front did occasionally provide tank support, I will also be painting a German tank to cover the Austrians from time to time. As these were not always available, especially during the height of the American offensives of the Fall, there will likely be a die roll mechanism in place for most games that the KuK boys take part in.

I had initially intended to give them a piece of captured French equipment. First, I thought about using a Schneider, which we now know the German infantry units made use of in combat at least once (and conveniently, near the Verdun area, where the Austrians were deployed, if my records are correct.) However, I just painted up a Schneider for another project, and while I love the model, I decided I wanted something different, or at least a little more robust. I'm already doing my opponents a favor by fielding the Portuguese;), so I thought perhaps I'd go with something slightly more surviveable than a "mobile crematorium" as the French called them.

This left two French options - the Char Chamond (and Brigade Games does a gorgeous Char Chamond in 28mm) or the FT-17. The problem with these is that they are very poorly documented once captured. We know that the Germans captured at least one Char Chamond, and that it was intended that it be re-armed and used in combat. However, as others with more knowledge of the subject can attest, there doesn't seem to be any actual proof that it was used as such. There are photos of it being paraded around and operated by a German crew, but so far as I know, nothing was actually done with it. (Perhaps the Germans felt that the A7V was unstable enough for their own purposes?)

Now, the FT-17 is an interesting option. The Germans should have captured dozens of them, particularly during the Nivelles offensive, and there are occasional vague references to them being taken, but only one (!) is actually mentioned in official German to as being captured. Now, that isn't necessarily a deal stopper - we do know that the German infantry units often pressed locally captured vehicles (including tanks) into service, sometimes in their original colors, without sending them back for refit or evaluation (see the Schneider mentioned above.) In fact, if you check my thread on captured FT-17s, you'll see a picture that Plynkes found of a group of captured Allied tanks in German posession, including what is clealry an FT-17, apparenly in its French camo. As such, I ordered an FT-17 from Brigade. I have already built a couple of these, and they are really top quality stuff.

However, the evidence is pretty slim, and at any rate, the wife is a huge fan of FT-17s. As she's planning to do some French for her Allied side of the project, at least initially, I have offered her the FT-17. She has generously been helping out with flocking the troops (a process I hate), and she's been helping me out with other projects, so it seemed like an appropriate thing to do.

So, ultimately, I decided to go with the most likely and most numerous option amongst captured Allied vehicles, the Mk IV. In this specific case, a Mk IV male. Now, you may be interested (or not, but hell, you've read this far, so I assume you are) to know that the Austro-Hungarians did, in fact, attempt to purchase anywhere from 12 to 15 of these vehicles from the Germans for their planned offensives in Italy. The Germans initially wavered in making their decision, first approving of the sale and then delaying it. They never seem to have been delivered,  and I would guess that they were never actually paid for, since a final deal was never reached. This is rather interesting, particularly as the Germans seem to have purchased some captured Lancia armored cars from the KuK.

That said, there was never any plan to send any of these vehicles to the Western Front. There was some talk of capturinng vehicles in France, but it never actually seems to have happened (at least in working order), so the Austrians had to rely upon their Stormtroopers and tank-hunters to provide the bulk of their anti-tank support, with the occasional support of German armor. Theoretically, though, I could paint the thing in German crosses and use it as an Austro-Hungarian vehicle in some Italian front scenario, since German and Austrian armor markings (the Austrians did have armored cars and armored trains, remember) were virtually indistinguishable. At any rate, for our purposes, it could certainly be in the area, with a German crew, so that's good enough for me. I have ordered the appropriate model from Brigade (again) and I'm awaiting its imminent arrival.

In the meanwhile, I am beginning to look at terrain options. A very talented friend has kindly done some beautiful trees up on comission, and these will form a forest on one flank of the town. I suspect that all the other bits will fall into place nicely. More on that as things develop!

Hopefully will have some photos for you tomorrow,

Alex