MV – Head of Direct Sales Jim Butler has been continuing his unstoppable hobby march, and his newest project is a winter German force for Bolt Action. Tell all, Jim!
JB – When I was working on my winter-themed French army, I was very happy with the effect I’d achieved with the bases – modelling sand painted brown, a grass tuft, and a sprinkle of snow to finish. It’s a very quick and easy way to give an army a lot of character, and means they don’t look out of place on a green battlefield in the way fully snow-covered bases might.
When I saw the new German Veterans I knew I had to have a go at putting some together – there’s an incredible amount of stuff on each sprue! I’d already used some of the weapons to make Sturmpioniere for my Afrika Korps army, but I really wanted to see what I could do with the complete kit, especially the terrain pieces on the sprue. The thing I love about the little piece of ruined wall is how easy it is to cut up into different sizes to create little dioramas, and the extra bricks on the sprue are also really handy when you need to make something to prop up a weapon. I had several bits left over from my Afrika Korps army, but the light mortar and anti-tank rifle arms are designed to work with prone bodies, and the Veterans only have kneeling poses. The walls and bricks were ideal for raising the weapons up to the right height, and also really helped add character to weapons teams.
I put together an Infantry Platoon – two units of Heer infantry, a small unit of Spähtruppen, a light mortar, anti-tank rifle, and (using the Josef Allerberger model) a sniper team – then made an MMG team using the wall section as the studio painters had done. Technically of course the MG34 should be on a tripod, but the little diorama looks great and with three crew it’s fully game ‘legal’! I also managed to find a few spare Afrika Korps bodies, so I made another MMG team with a prone firing figure. Finally I stole inspiration from the studio painters again by buying the plastic mortar from the Sd.Kfz 251/2 to make a mortar team to round out my Heavy Weapons Platoon.
With the winter theme, I decided to add some of the Winter Fallschirmjäger into the mix. I’d like to say it was my plan all along, but when the weapons teams went on sale I couldn’t resist! I managed to barter around the office for a couple of sprues of infantry, and this gave me just enough for a small Infantry Platoon. While the uniforms are different, I think the basing pulls the force together fairly well. I let the Fallschirmjäger MMG team borrow some of the wall from the German Veterans sprue, and this helps visually link the two sections of the force.
I used exclusively Army Painter paints for this project – the base colour for the German Veteran uniforms is Medieval Forest, with a Dark Tone wash over the top. I wanted a bit of variation to represent a veteran force in the field with replacements, so in some cases I mixed a little bit of Olive Drab into the basecoat. Likewise, I painted the first few trousers with Ash Grey, but then added in a little black to vary the tone.
To finish off the force I wanted a couple of armoured vehicles. I had never painted a Tiger before and this seemed like too good an opportunity to miss. It’s a great kit, and the Zimmerit on the vertical sides worked well with the Speedpaints I’d used before on my Afrika Korps. I couldn’t get an exact match to real-life Dunkelgelb, so I mixed Sand Golem 50:50 with Holy White, and was happy with the results. A light drybrush of Barren Dune and then painting on thin bands of green and reddish-brown finished it off. With a Puma to complete the platoon I used the same painting technique, and I’m really happy with the results!
The whole collection comes to just over 1,600 points. Rather than build specific army lists, I tend to build collections that allow for some flexibility and let me tailor my force between. I’m planning to paint a couple of transports – perhaps a Hanomag and a Maultier – to add to the force, but otherwise I’m calling this more or less ‘done’. I’ve already started on some US paratroopers and Free French to fight against this force – in my head they’re in the Italian mountains in early 1944. I’ve seen some pictures of Free French troops in US greatcoats and Adrian helmets, and guess what my bits box is full of…
MV – Has Jim’s relentless hobbying got you inspired? Check out our full Bolt Action range!
