US Vehicles for TANKS

Last year I finally obtained a copy of the GF9 TANKS game.  My friend Mike demoed the game for me months earlier but the game was basically unavailable for many months after.  I have been gradually adding models to the three tanks that come in the core game.  Below are the Americans that I have painted and collected so far.  The models are all plastic Battlefront models that are the same sprues as their Flames of War models.

The starter set comes with two M4A3 Sherman tanks.  These kits can be built as either 75mm or 76mm gun turrets.  In fact, there are enough parts to build both turrets so you can switch back and fourth as needed for the game.

I purchased the M36 expansion and was pleasantly surprised to find that the kit will actually build either the M36 or the M10 and there are cards included for both vehicles.  Like the Sherman models there are enough parts to build both turrets allowing you to easily play either tank just by swapping the turrets.  I initially decided to just build the M36 turret as I already have several M10's in my collection but now that I am done I think I will go back ans build the M10 turret so I can keep all my TANKS models in one place to make getting in games easier.

New Rivers

Several years ago Battlefront released a set of river section with two bridges.  At the time I really wanted these rivers but I figured I have time to pick them up.  That was before I realized that BF terrain sets are all limited editions.  Soon after that set was gone, however, GF9 (part of Battlefront) released expansion sets for the rivers.  Well, I put off getting any of those as I have already invested in the Pegasus Hobbies river sets and had no need for any more.

After several years of use I have decided to commandeer the Pegasus Hobbies rivers for a winter terrain project I am planning.  This means I needed some new rivers for non-winter tables.  This was the perfect excuse to add some these GF9 rivers to the terrain collection.

I bought two sets.  The fork expansion and the island expansion.  Each set includes three sections that are just under 12" long.

Each piece has its own formed foam tray fro protection.  This is a great feature.  The river sections are made of a heavy rubber/vinyl material.  The texture of the river back is molded into the piece so there is no flaking.

The rivers are pre-painted and could be used straight from the box.  In fact, that seems to be how most people use them.  Each set comes with a small packet of static grass but not enough to make them look like the pictures on the box.  Fortunately, I have lots of flock material so sprucing these up was not an issue.

Below are a few pictures of some of the finished river sections.  I repainted the rock outcroppings to a grey rather than tan color.  It is hard to see in these pictures.I added some static grass and flock to each piece to help soften the look.  I really like how these turned out.

I plan to add a the rest of the available sets to the collection soon.  Now that Battlefront has re-released the original bridges i will be getting those as well.  These will soon be the main river sets for Flames of War as well as just about any other game I play that calls for rivers.  These are some very nice sets and I am sorry I waited so long to get them.