The Brest Fortress (2010) (English subtitles).

One of the most realistic International WW2 film I have seen so far.
Does create some inspiration to paint my Russian FOW stands.

History tells a bleak history for their defense...this is no Saving Private Ryan.

Enjoy the full film!

The Gathering Den of Bears aka My Russian FOW Army

I deliberated painting my Russians but here they are or at least my IC, 2IC and the two platoon commanders. They are being based and later flocked.

I'm used to painting the darker uniforms of the Germans and even their camouflage patterns with my usual black undercoat. But with the Russians, I found out I need a few coats of Vallejo 912 Tan Brown to get an even color. Fortunately, its a single uniform color so I'm not grumbling...

I decided to paint up the SMG teams or at least 4 bases of them. The Udarny Strelkovy set has 8 bases worth of SMG teams but I feel that painting in small packets will prevent me from painter's burnout.

Let's hope this strategy works.

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The Average Ivan

I bought this book at Borders (RIP) @ Wheelock Place.

It is a revealing account of the average Ivans who fought in the Eastern Front 1941-1945. I was astounded with the ruthlessness of the Soviet military as they desperately tried to stem the German invasion.

As they won in Stalingrad, it was still an uphill struggle for the Ivans as they fought the grueling battles against the Germans.

A revealing read as I build up my motivation to paint my strelkovy!

Ivan's war: life and death in the ... - Catherine Merridale - Google Books

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Russian Scouts (Spetznaz)

After my recent tournament, it got both Baron Eddie and myself thinking of having an evil nemesis for our oh so heroic German armies.

*cue soviet marching songs*
So ww decided to have a Russian army. It was an old idea months back when I bought an Engineer Sapper army from BF. Due to the preponderance of miniatures to be painted, the project went on hiatus...till now.

So I started small. A Soviet scout team painted and based. Will flock it soon.

Onwards *Tovaritsch*!
*Comrade*

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Pictures from Flames of War Tournament @ Fusionopolis 02 October 2011

Pictures from my recent tournament. Some of them are blurry since I was just snapping pics from my mobile.

PI FOW Tournament 2011 @ Connexis, Fusionopolis, 02 October 2011

It was a nice Sunday as we came down to play in the FOW tournament at Connexis, Fusionopolis hosted by my gaming store, Paradigm Infinitum (PI).
We had the unforeseen news of a sudden pullout of several players due to a last minute event.
But the show must go on and we realise it was pretty much a German affair(80% of the players brought German lists!).

Command Team with Panzerknacker

Painted a command team equipped with Panzerknacker. It will be used for my pseudo gebirgsjager platoon.

Gebirgsjager are more or less equipped as normal Grenadiers. So you can actual use normal Grenadier stands.

The cool thing is that gebirgjagers counts as a FJ platoon instead of as allies. I hope to use them as either a blocking force or harassing unit in my army list.

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Mortar Sections Painted!

Speed painting my mortar section for this weekend.

Left adding flock and overcoat them. I'm quite unhappy with the quality of this LW Mortar Platoon blister. I had to file off quite an amount of excess lead and some of the features are indistinguishable.

Nonetheless they will become my mortar platoon in my Fallschirmjager list. 2 of them will be in my HQ and I will have 2 sections as my mortar platoon.

If needed be I shall KG them to become 3 tubes each. Thus getting two smoke templates.

Last minute checks for my Fallschirmjager list before tournament day!

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Update on Release Date: 15mm WW2 German SdKfz 251 Ausf D Halftrack by Plastic Soldier Company

Just an update...the 15mm WW2 German SdKfz 251 Ausf D Halftrack is scheduled to be released by end of September 2011. I shall wait till the actual release date itself. Still priced at the uber affordable GBP 16.50 for 5 half tracks.

Maybe I should wait a lit bit more and buy both versions....

Too bad it doesn't offer the other versions such as the "Stummel", Flamethrower or Mortar.

SdKfz 251 Ausf D Halftrack is the more economically designed version of the Ausf C where Ausf D variant was developed with a purpose of reducing the number of angled body plates by 50%, simplifying the design and thus speeding up the production. Ausf D can be easily recognized by its single piece sloping rear (with flat doors).

15mm WW2 German SdKfz 251 Ausf C Halftrack by Plastic Soldier Company

Ever since I started playing FOW, I had thoughts if there are cheaper ways to get my hands on certain models. As far as Battlefront is concerned, it's awfully costly to play a German Armored Infantry list. The cost of the halftracks alone will kill off any temptations to buy. But to play the off repeated cinematic picture of German soldiers riding halftracks is just soooo tempting!

For those who are wondering the "coolness" of a German halftrack...for your reading pleasure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sd.Kfz._251

I had calculated a normal 1750pts worth of German Armored Infantry needs at least 15 halftracks!
But it seems I will have some salvation to play this list. **Cue Entry**

I definitely I'm not getting paid by PSC for blogging this article, for a neat 5 x SdKfz 251 halftracks @ GBP 16.50 per box (about SGD 35.00) is really value for money.

In comparison BF is selling its halftracks at USD 12.50 each which is about GBP 8.00.
Since I'm the cost-saving wargamer, I will definitely get a PSC boxed set rather than BF!
Note: This excludes shipping costs if you are ordering online.

http://theplasticsoldiercompany.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_22_24_50&products_id=206

Its spruce has good mixture of stowage and equipment which you can attach as you see fit.
Some of my friends had bought the PzIV and T-34 boxed set and they are quite happy with the quality and pricing as well.

Until I have more dough in my pocket. This is a must BUY boxed set!

German Mortars in WW2 (81mm)

I'm quite happy to say, that mortars in FOW are very useful to any infantry list.
It's ability to smoke or pinned infantry outweigh its capability to kill.

Unlike the worthless mortar of my Warhammer 40K days (it sucks in Imperial Guards, can't kill for nuts...)
FOW mortars plays an integral part of an infantry list in either supporting for an assault or blinding long range guns.

In my tournament list, I am playing a Fallschirmjager mortar platoon (2 x 81mm mortar sections) and attached HQ mortars ( 2 x 81mm mortars) to support my infantry marching across No Man's land.
It will be useful as well to blind any arty observers if needed be.

Note that the Fallschirmjagers used an airborne version of the standard 81mm mortar which they nicknamed it as "stumpy".

For those serious wargamers who are into the nitty gritty details of mortars used by the Germans, I have found an interesting link to read up about the use of 8cm Granatwerfer 34

8cm Granatwerfer 34
http://www.lonesentry.com/manuals/german-infantry-weapons/german-8-cm-heavy-mortar.html

8cm Granatwerfer42 Stummelwerfer
http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=663

WWII Footage in Color - German Army

Just recommending a play list of videos showing German army in WWII.

It shows the real colors and provides better visual representation on the actual colors used in their uniforms and equipment.

Beats looking at black and white pictures and color plated from voluminous books.

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Fallschirmjager Painted (Non-panzerfaust)

I tried to accelrate my painting process by spray painting the bases and using colored acrylic resin from Vallejo.

The Fallschirmjagers were painted a mixture of basic colors to give the impression that their command and NCOs are Africa veterans who insist to wear the same uniforms and helmets as a mark of respect.

I decided the miniatures using smg and FG42 are the veterans and some are actually Luftwaffe troops. So their trousers were painted Luftwaffe blue.

I will using this platoon for my upcoming tournament. :)

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Turrets are Painted!

It was a fast job. Need the Panzer II turret fast for my tournament.

Pantherturm can wait for a fun game...

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Flames of War Tournament Singapore Countdown **Bring In the Green Devils**

After trolling about, I have decided to choose a Fallschirmjager (FJ) army list for my upcoming tournament.

One of the main reason for my choice is simply their staying power under enemy fire. At 10 stands and being Fearless Veterans (or Trained in some army list) the FJ can absorb a lot of fire and survive.

Secondly, FJ has a colorful history during WW2 which adds flavor to my army list. From their days as elite airborne units to the days they were forced to become light infantry against great odds.

Now to mull over on which FJ army list to choose from but for those who are interested to read up on them.Click here Fallschirmjager (WW2) Wiki

Pantherturms Information

Trolling through the net...I think it is a good thing to read up on the Panther turret..so wallah!
From Wikipedia....yeah trolling made simple!

From 1943, Panther turrets were mounted in fixed fortifications, some were normal production models, but most were made specifically for the task, with additional roof armor to withstand artillery. Two types of turret emplacements were used; (Pantherturm III - Betonsockel — concrete base) and (Pantherturm I - Stahluntersatz — steel sub-base). They housed ammunition storage and fighting compartment along with crew quarters. A total of 182 of these were installed in the fortifications of the Atlantic Wall and West Wall, 48 in the Gothic Line and Hitler Line, 36 on the Eastern Front, and 2 for training and experimentation, for a total of 268 installations by March 1945. They proved to be costly to attack, and difficult to destroy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panther_tank

Turrets are here!

The beauty of global courier service.
Received my FOW turrets yesterday.
Yay!

The panther turrets looks intimidating but quite excessive pointage 160pts whereas the lowly panzer II turret comes at 30pts. With most LW games played at 1750pts, a panther turret needs careful consideration to add in an army list.

Depends on type of terrain your local gaming group plays, a dense terrain table will effectively negate a panther turret obvious advantage, its range for its 75/L70 gun.

Well need to paint up soon to add to my army!

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Marder IIIMs or Martin in English

I'm never fond for lightly armored AT tanks but it's cheaper than the Stugs. I'm going to try them out in some practices leading to my FOW tournament.

Painted up 2 of them and touched up another 2 which my brother bartered with me for mortar section.
They are good in ambush or concealed terrain.

Here's a link about their development.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marder_III

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Pak Nests and Gun Pits

I'm not going state the fact that BF Pak nests and gun pits will look much better than mine. But I want to save some costs. So some plasticards, putty and fast cheap spray later...

Pak nests will deter tank armies to take shortcuts and gun pits will keep the opponent guessing on we shall place the AT guns, artillery or 88mm flak guns.

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Flames of War Tournament Singapore Countdown

Here's a FOW update.
My local gaming store (Paradigm Infinitum) has organized a LW FOW tournament come 02 October @ Fusionopolis.

I was dead set in playing Germans but which list? Listing down simple factors :

1. I need rock hard troops. So Fearless or Confident is the way to go.

2. Platoon with many stands. The regular Germans Grenadier platoons has 7 stands. So I need a list which has many stands to absorb losses. And German tank list is usually outnumbered against Allied tank horde armies. So its either German Pioneers or Fallschirmjager army lists.

3. I want troops who can hit well. I have this habit of bad dice rolls during critical phases. So I want to mitigate this problem. So Veterans is the way to go.

4. I played a short game in a Blue on Blue game when my Grenadiers against a Wiking SS List. He fielded 2 flak nests in his list. To cut an exciting AAR short. I am now fascinated with fortification rules. So I decided it is a must to have fortifications in my tournament list.

So I had the choices of :

1. Pioneer Kompanie (PDF)
2. All the funky Earth & Steel lists.
3. All the Bagration sourcebooks.
4. Cassino

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What Teachers really want to tell Parents.

I have two kids. All parents wants the best for their children but I realise some parents just pass the buck to our educators.

Call it consumerism or whatever other names you call it but educators are not miracle workers.

So I understand well enough that as a parent, I'm ultimately responsible for my child's education and character build.

Good article though.
To Good Teachers, I salute you for your dedication and duty!

What teachers really want to tell parents - CNN.com

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Here I am!

After mulling over on whether to set up a blog after several years, I have decided to jump on the band wagon. ( I have gone over several product cycles from Games Workshop, Warmachines and now Flames of War.)

It is the fact I find it's quite dull and boring to upload my wargaming pics onto Facebook and not having a chance to comment more on the "exciting" portion of preparing and painting minis.

I will make no promises to regularly update this blog but rest assured there will be updates when and where I have miniatures to paint.

Apart from that, I have other whimsical stuffs which I may blog from time to time