US Armored Rifle Platoon for Flames of War

I have been slowly getting back into Flames of War.  My friends and I have recently played a few games of v4 using the new army points/cards/lists.  These games have been fun and it has been nice to get my collection back on the table.  For a very long time I have wanted to add armored rifle platoons to my US forces.  About 5 years ago I built the half tracks for this unit but I never got back to the infantry.  I have fixed that and discovered I have enough unpainted to do an entire company so that has been added to the project list.

These figures are the old Battlefront metal figures.  They are technically the late war set but with the new v4 concept it turns out the mid-war and late war units are now identical.  The half tracks are plastic models from Plastic Soldier Company and I have a separate post about these.

US M4A1 Sherman in Camo

After many years of delays on procrastination I have finally completed the third platoon for my Mid-war US armored company for Flames of War.  I bought these several years ago from a local gamer.  They were already assembled and had a basic paint job but I really wanted to repaint them in a camo scheme.  The problem was I really didn't need these tanks.  I already have 10 painted M4A1 tanks for this army and I don't think I have ever used all of them in a game so these just sat in the army box unloved and unfinished.  Every time I pulled the army out for a game I would tell myself that needed to finished these up but I never did - until now.

These tanks are painted to represent tanks from the 1st Armored division in Tunisia in 1943.  They will also easily work in Sicily or Italy all the way to the end of the war.  I really like how these turned out and I can see these might be the center piece of the army from now on.  With the new army construction with v4 I might actually need 15 Shermans.  Time will tell.  These are Plastic Soldier Company models and they are my favorite version of this tank in 15mm.

Panther Comparison

I recently assembled a few Battlefront Panther A models and I thought you might find a little comparison post interesting.  Below are some pictures of the BF Panther compared to the Plastic Soldier Company (PSC) Panther.  The PSC model is built as the ausf D for my Kursk army.

As you can see they are very similarly proportioned with the BF model being ever so slightly larger.  I would thing that the to brands would work well on the same table in the same army.

I plan to use the BF ausf A for a 1944 Panther force.  To me the rougher look of the BF model with the zimmerit is perfect for Normandy armies or 1944 Eastern front armies. On the other hand, the crisp clean lines and the fine detail of the PSC Panther makes it perfect for the Kursk era Panthers as these were straight off the assembly line tanks and should really look new.

I really do prefer the PCS tanks.  It is really tough to justify the more than double the price for BF.  If I ever do a late Panther G force I will not hesitate to use the PSC kit.

StuG Batterie for Flames of War

Here is my StuG Batterie for Flames of War.  I have always loved the StugIIIG and ever since I started FoW I have dreamed of building this army.  But my cheapness kept me from making any real progress.  The first tanks in the collection were a couple of the original Open Fire! stugs that I traded for.  They were crap and I was sure I would end up throwing them away.  A few weeks ago a friend had all the Germans from the new Open Fire box which included three stugs.  Well, now I was getting close to having a start on the army.  Once I realized that the plastic schurzen from the Plastic Soldier Company stug set could be used to salvage the crappy old Open Fire stugs I was off.  I bought a box of PCS stug and got started.

The complete company.  The army includes Battlefront models and Plastic Soldier Company models.

The commander is from the Panzer Kanonen set.  I did not like the metal schurzen that comes with this model so I upgraded it with a set from PSC.

This platoon is made of the Battlefront plastic stugs from the current Open Fire box.  These models are OK but seem a little too wide to me.

The second platoon is a mix of manufacturers.  The command tank is from PSC.  The other two are modified Battlefront models from the original Open Fire set.  The tanks were one piece casting ans the schurzen has a bad habit of breaking off.  I used my Dremel to remove the schurzen and also to remove the huge casting on the base of the tank.  I then used PSC schuzen as replacements.  The are not perfect but they look good.

This is the StuH 42 platoon and all the models are PSC.  I left off the schurzen (because I used them to fix the other tanks) to help differentiate the models from the stugs.

Initially, I will be fielding this force as the 280. Sturmgeschutzbrigade from Bridge by Bridge.  I will be able to use my Fallschirmjagers to fill out the support.  Some of these models have already been on the table in support of my Fallschirmajagers and they will eventually backup some standard German infantry as well.  All in all these tanks will see lots of table time for mid and late war games.

US M3 Halftracks for Flames of War

On a whim a few weeks ago I bought a set of Plastic Soldier Company M3 Haftracks.  OK, it was not really a whim, I have been wanting some of these for my US army for a long time.  An Armored Rifle Platoon will be a nice addition to my mid-war US Tank Company.  The Armored Rifle platoon can be a very expensive unit to model for FoW (but it is getting a little cheaper with the new plastic set from Battlefront).  The tracks are one of the main expenses for this unit and the PSC option saves lots of money.

The kit is pretty nice and very similar to their other sets.  The instructions are adequate for the job. It would have been nice to get a little detail on the different models and options but it is easy enough to find on the web.

 I did find these to be a little fiddly (the first model of a new PSC set is always the toughest) to build and if you don't like to build models you are probably not going to like these much.

Since these are for my 1943 Tunisian theamed US force I opted for the M3 rather than the M3A1 model.  The only real difference is the A1 has the ring mount for the AA MG rather than the pintle mount.

The platoon HQ track is the only one that gets the winch.  All the others get the bumper with the roller.

I really love these models, and all the PSC models I have built.  Now I need to dig out the infantry and the 37mm AT gun and get them painted up.

15mm Panther D

This is my 1500 point Panther Company for the Shifting Sands Kursk event.   This army is a mid-war army from the Eastern Front book.  It is exactly 1500 points and is the bare minimum for a legal army.

The models are all Plastic Soldier Company Panthers and were quite fun to build.  As I mentioned in a previous post, you need to be careful when building these as the instruction are not correct when building the ausf D and A.

So far I have played 4 test games and I must say these things are hell on wheels, especially for Soviet tanks.  The only loss I had was against a Soviet infantry force (Guards) and even that was a bloody slugging match.

Hopefully, this will perform just as well at the event as it has in the test games.

Plastic Soldier Company Panther

For my Kursk German army I am going with the Panther Company.  Since I am cheap...no, no, no...sensible, I am going with the Plastic Soldier Company Panthers.  I really love the PSC models and I recommend them highly.  This set allows you to build any of the three versions of this tank - ausf D, A or G.

Like all of these kits the Panther kit is really well designed.  It is amazing to me how you can get such a nice model from so few parts.  As nice as this kit is it is not perfect.

The trouble is with the instructions.  This kit suffers from the common confusion with the Panther version numbers.  Unlike other German tanks the Panther did not start with the A model.  The A was actually the second model and the D was the first.  This means that the instructions start with the A but it is actually the D and the D is the A.  To make things worse, the version that should be the A is really the early A that was built for about a month.  To build the most common version of the A you will need to do some converting.  The G version in the instructions is the later version that was available in 1945 so to build the more common G you need to do some converting.

The key to making this kit work is to do some research and take the instruction with a grain of salt. 

I have 10 of these built so now I need to order some decals and get to painting.  Stay tuned for more.

Vacation Hobby Haul

Last week the family and I, along with Tim and his wife, spent an amazing week in Southern California for our annual family vacation.  We spent several days at the beach and going to various attractions around the LA area.  As usual, Tim and I had to take some time to hit a couple of our favorite game/hobby stores in the area - The War House and Brookhurst Hobbies.  You can read about Tim's experiences here.

As usual, I went with a rather large list of items for existing or new projects.  Mostly I am looking for items that are hard to find locally but I do have my eye out for just about anything interesting.  This year I really looking for lots of Flames of War items.  I have learned that Battlefront has a bit of a supply issue so if you see a FoW item in a shop and you want it, buy it.  Your local shop might not get it for months, if at all.

The first stop was The War House in Long Beach.  This is a cool little hole-in-the-wall shop that looks like it has been around for a 100 years.  It has an interesting mix of old and new products.  It is the kind of place that you have to spend some time in to dig through all the stuff.  But that is time well spent if you can dig out one of the gems.  This year I scored a Battlefield in a Box set BB103 Normandy.  This terrain set was originally released in 2008 to support the (then) new Normandy hard back books (or maybe it was the soft back books, I can't remember).  This set contains three large pillboxes, a couple of AA pits and lots of anti-tank obstacles.  The original price was $90 and they tend to go much higher on eBay when you can find them.  It appears that these items are not available at all from BF anymore.  I got this at the original 2008 retail price for an unopened, but shelf worn, box.

The next stop was Brookhurst Hobbies in Garden Grove.  I have been going to BH for many years and I must say it just keeps getting better and better.  I did find a bunch of items I was looking for but I have already spend a big chunk of the budget so I had to keep some composure.  I picked up a box of Perry Miniatures plastic British 8th Arny figures.  I have been waiting for a long time for these and I am excited to start working on them.  I also picked up a 4Ground 15mm building.  I have been really interested in these for a while and I was glad to find a 15mm building.  They had lots of the 28mm but very few of the 15mm.  I also picked up a box of Plastic Soldier Company Panthers for my Kursk project.  I actually need two boxes but I will get the rest locally.  The final item was a Battlefront P-38 for my mid-war Americans.  You can use this for late war but to me the P-47 is THE late war ground attack plane for the Americans.

I must say I am pretty happy with this trip even if I didn't bring back LOTS of stuff.

Flames of War US Tank Company

I have been wanting to build a US Tank Company for a long time.  Last year I bought some Plastic Soldier Company M4A1 and M4A2 models from a friend that was getting out of the hobby.  I had already started collecting some PSC models before I purchased the collection.  After playing a few games with my friends old tanks I decided they just were not getting the job done, so I decided to build and paint my own collection.

Here are the first 10 tanks for my new army, along with a couple of extras.

First up are the commander and the 2iC.  The figures are Battlefront and the tanks are PSC.

 The first platoon is also PSC with a Battlefront commander.  These tanks have the M34 gun mantlet and some have the rounded hull.

The second platoon are PSC with an Old Glory commander.  These tanks have the M34A1 mantlet and all have the bolted hull fronts.

This is the classic Battlefront US objective marker.  It is a knocked out version of their M4A1 model.  I never really liked the BF version of this tank.  The slope of the front armor looks wrong to me.

Finally we have the M32 TRV from Battlefront.  I will actually be playing this as the M31 for the time being until I order the correct model from BF.  I really like the new plastic tracks that BF are doing.  They are much nicer than the old metal ones.

Not a bad start on a new army.  This is just under 1200 points.  I have an M10 TD platoon and an M7 artillery battery in process so they will be getting some reinforcements soon.

Flames of War PZ IV G/H Platoon

I just finished a small Panzer IV platoon.  These are Plastic Soldier Company PZ IVs built as late G or H models.  I built them with just the shurzen on the turrets.  When I finally get around to building some proper H's I will use the full set of extra armor.

These tanks will be seeing duty with my mid to late war Fallschirmjager army in Italy.  They may also see some time in support of my Tiger I company (if I can find someone who wants to play against it.

Plastic Soldier Pz III G Platoon

I have been on vacation all week and doing stuff with the kids who are on Spring Break. We we haven't been out doing something fun I have been reading or playing Fallout 3 on the PS3. It has been a pretty good week but I have not neglected my miniature painting. Yesterday I finished up this platoon of Plastic Soldier Company Panzer IIIs. I built these as ausf G to use with my mid war and early war DAK Panzer Co. I have another box of these that I will be building as ausf H for the DAK.

As usual the PSC models are amazing and cannot be touched for price and quality. I am not sure why anyone is buying anything else right now.

Flames of War Panzerkompanie

I have, more or less, finished up my Tunisia/Italy Panzerkompanie for Flames of War. This project started off as a few tanks to support my Fallschirmjagers. The Plastic Soldier Company Panzer IV kits are so I nice I have to keep buying them and building them.

First up is the Company Commander in PzIV G (the long barrel) and the 2ic in a PzIV F1.


Next we have the PzIV G platoon. This is a full platoon of five tanks. These guys are the long range anti-tank punch of the company.


The second platoon can be seen in a previous post. The second platoon are PzIV F1 with the short gun. These tanks are shorter range and lower AT than the G's but they have the ability to fire direct fire smoke as well as bombardments.

Finally we have the entire 1500 point company of 12 tanks. I have a few more tanks to build and paint so I will have a few other options. Once the PSC PzIII kit is out I will add a few of them for even more options. There are many more tanks to come.

Plastic Soldier Pz IV F1 Platoon

This is a platoon of Panzer IV F1 tanks built from the excellent Plastic Soldier Company's Panzer IV kit. The kit allows you to build PZ IV variants starting with the F1 and going through the H. These tanks will be providing much needed armor support for my Fallschirmjagers in Tunisia. This platoon will eventually be the foundation of a DAK Panzer Company.


I am really impressed with the quality of these kits and will be buying MANY more boxes for all sorts of FoW projects. I just cannot wait for the STuG and Pz III kits to be released.

Plastic Soldier T34 76/85

Ever since I started playing Flames of War I have wanted to do a mid/late war Soviet tank army but the high cost of Battlefront tanks kept me from jumping in. A few months ago I found out about Plastic Soldier company and the 15mm plastic tanks and infantry they are producing. I saw some pictures of the T34 set and was really excited. This was especially true with the price per tank about half of Battlefront.

Recently my local game store, Imperial Outpost Games, ordered in a few boxes and I was finally able to see these in the flesh. I was hooked! These things are amazing.

As you can see the kit will make 5 T34 models as either the 76 or the 85. The first tank I built was the T34 76. To be more accurate this is the T34 Model 43. It is the hardedge turret and the all rubber road wheels and lack of the box fuel tanks put this as a late 43 production. I would have loved to have seen the steel road wheels and the box fuel tanks as an option in the kit but it is still very nice.

The back of the box has the assembly instructions and a painting guide with Vallejo paint colors. The modle only has about 16 parts.

The sprue is very clean and well molded.

As you can see the finished model is very nice. I think it may be the best looking T34 in 15mm. My assembly is not the best and I found the tracks to be a little fiddly. I am sure this will improve as I build the remaining four tanks.

I will be buying several more boxes of these tanks and I will also be buying the PZ Mk IV for my Germans. I am really excited about the news that they will be producing a Sherman kit. The future of plastic kits for my hobby projects is looking bright.