Flames of War

12. and 16. Luftwaffe Field Division

  

I have embarked on a project of a few firsts, it is my first foray into 15mm and my first proper historical project. I'm a big history buff, but it has taken me years of other wargaming to finally start a historical army, no real reason for that i suppose, possibly I knew I would be too concerned at getting all the uniforms and colours correct, or ending up buying too many things! :)

Anyway, I am modelling the 12th and 16th Luftwaffe Field Division, they will be the 12th on the Eastern Front and the 16th in the West. Fortunately the organization is relatively similar as are uniform details so they should be happily interchangeable with a few different units. I chose to do the LFD because I had a Grandfather in the Luftwaffe (I have quite a complex family history!) as well as the huge appeal of doing a unsung regular unit, who never get much attention.

Anyway, for those who have gotten this far, here is my first completed unit the ubiquitous Flak 88, i have painted a few of the gunners wearing their cotton drill pants, as I saw on photos from the Eastern Front. As well as some of the shells painted with the yellow HE and black for AP. 

8.8cm Flak 36 Platoon

Pikemen!

More pikes painted, some other projects have been distracting me but these are coming along at a reasonable rate, got the bases done, want to put a few more stones down though.

I have some awesome historical models lined up and ordered that i'm looking forward to receiving, they will fit in perfectly with the lads i've got so far as well.

Garrison Pikemen Form Rank

 

  
The Line formation is a strong defensive technique of the pikeman and the Garrison. The mutually supportive pikes and the width of the line ensures that any enemy would have to fight with great difficulty to break through. Similarly any cavalry approaching from the front quadrant will be soon skewered on the forest of pikes. Whether behind the walls of their fortresses and keeps or in suitable open ground the Garrison Pikemen are a formidable body of men
 

The heavy armour and pikes of the Garrison usually results in a defensive posture being taken. These tactics can be decisive when dealing with large numbers of enemies. These tactics are particularly effective in the natural choke-points and defensive positions of the Black Mountains, well known to the Garrison troops and commanders. Many times during the infrequent up-swellings of Goblin tribes has the Line infantry of the Garrison taken this formation and broken the Goblonoids as they are funnelled towards the waiting ranks of Pikes. 

As with any regiment in the Empire the musician plays a useful role. The notes of the trumpet playing specific tunes is distinct and clear over the noise of the battlefield. Commands for Advance, Retreat, Form Rank and more are all learnt by the pikemen as part of their basic training.  In the front rank Musiker Emmerich's Trumpet is adorned with a hand stitched tabard displaying the Imperial Cross.

The Black Mountain garrison forces were present in the campaign against Grom the Paunch in the Imperial year of 2040-2042. Fighting under Prince Wilhelm of Reikland the Ost Averland pikes took heavy losses in the Battle of Bloody gorge.

As a result of this campaign the Black Garrison forces was significantly reinforced into a heavier permanent armed force to form an increased presence in the mountains. The result of this is an greater ability to provide greater warning for future incursions and a better bulwark against Orcish and other aggression.
 

Necromunda Gangers! Redemptionists, Orlocks and More

Hello chaps, posting all my updates in one go today. I find it a bit laborious to edit the blogger since i'm simply used to  BB code in forums! Anyhow enough moaning, here is my Necromunda lot.

My box of wonder!

Burn the witch! Cool models the redemptionists, very fitting in the 40k universe the crazed Zealot and not really represented on the 40k battlefield at all (besides Chaos worshippers!). Then again, crazed untrained, poorly armed and un-armoured men stand no chance against professional soldiers, let alone the horrors that the 40k universe spawns!

In the sprawling underhive however, plenty of witches to burn!

Redemptionist with Shotgun

 

Hope you guys like my choice of colours with this one, didn't want to go for the hot rod flame effect on the robe, they like to burn things not be burnt themselves after all! Besides, fanatics don't tend see themselves as such and having flame robes seems too self aware to me :D

Redemptionist with Shotgun Back

These photos show my favourite work to date, my mother is a furniture restorer and I must have inherited some of that drive from her because I have 'restored' these miniatures and it please me more than doing up some brand new models. Hope you like the results also  

Before: 2nd hand Redemptionists

After: Redemptionist with Autogun, Redemptionist with Stubgun and Autopistol, Redemptionist with two Autopistols

Love the expression on this lady, very fierce, and it was my first attempt at Tartan too Turned out pretty well.

Escher Ganger with Autopistol and Sword

Goliath Online! As the little walker said in Starcraft back in this era. Got my big muscle man painted, not the greatest of sculpts by a long shot but one of the better Goliath ones. Couldn't resist putting some hazard stripes on his rifle, I will continue that with the rest of the Goliaths, feel it fits their heavy industry background and its my favourite trend of the 'red era'.

The muscles on this guy though! Blimey, must be some serious drugs in the underhive!  

Goliath with Autogun and Axe

My first Cawdor is done, He has a rusty old Knife as a Juve but his laspistol is kept in good condition! The hazard stripes will remind him to point away from face! I deliberately wanted the Cawdor to tie in with the Redemptionists, firstly, because the Redemptionists are part of the Cawdor house, so I see these guys as being part of the same sect, and secondly because it also gives me the opportunity to use them in 40k games as a single unit, since they mix so well.

Cawdor Juve with Laspistol

I like these two because they represent the Best and Worst miniatures in the Necromunda gang. The two Deacons.

The Worst: Deacon with Flamer, not the worst model in the Necromunda range, but the worst in the Redemptionst, this guy is a bit lame imo for two reasons, firstly, his hat, it is completely flat, there is no room at all for this guys face to be, unless his nose and lips and chin have been ground flat (not an impossibility in the underhive I suppose!) but his totally tubular head annoys me and secondly his arms, ludicrously large for his body and far too long, they would reach past his knees if they were resting down. If those arms were replaced with some human sized sleeved ones it'd be a pretty good model I think.

The Deacon with Grenade Launcher is my favourite Redemptionist model and in my Top 5 Necro models of the entire range. Well proportioned, excellent pose with the robes flowing naturally in the direction of movement, and the absolutely fierce grotesque mask that he's wearing, coupled with that studded hoot, brilliant. A figure that feels totally 40k to me.

Redemptionist Deacon with Grenade Launcher and Redemptionist Deacon with Flamer

Inspiration struck suddenly at work for this one, after months of no idea on what to do with the Orlocks. So I stayed up all night painting this one guy. The Orlock Juve, I initially wrestled with a concept for these guys and then decided to leave it, let it simmer and see what happens, well I was thinking about the colour schemes I wanted for all the un-started gangs and I thought, oo I want to paint checkers on something, but which gang.

Then I thought ah, the bandannas and loincloths on the Orlocks, of course! suddenly I had images of 50's diners, Race cars, Rockabilly and greasers, those old timey American mechanic shops and so the evening was spent furiously painted and he emerged, chequered and festooned with a Spade, I will do them with clubs, hearts, diamonds also.

His skin is a little orange in the pic, which it doesn't look in real life, just late night photography under my lightbulbs i'm afraid. Great expression on this model, a little scared, a little swagger, good model.  

Orlock Juve with Stub Gun

Continuing on with the Redemptionists, two more fanatics, including the Priest with the melta gun, hot stuff. Both pretty decent sculpts the Priest in particular being another standout in the Necro range.

Brethren with Autogun and Redemptor Priest with Meltagun

Vroom vroom! The sound of a chainsaw wielding maniac reverberates through the hive! Run girls with easily twistable ankles! Very fun model this one, totally impractical weapon in the extreme, without looking awful, hard line to tread! The paint was still not totally dry on his base you can see there  

Redemptionist Zealot with Eviscerator 

Super long post, but that's what you get when you procrastinate on updating your blogger for months! If you made it this far you are a studly creature!

Ost Averland Map

 

A map showing the rough sphere of Eastern Averland, although not an officially recognized division within Averland the population has it's own Reikspiel dialect and customs, as can be seen the major cities of the region encompass the massive Garrison and fortifications of Grenzstadt and Hochsleben and Merfeld. With the rest of the population being dispersed in the foothills in smaller villages.

Although the people have to contend with the monsters of the mountains who manage to get through the Garrison troops the land is mercifully free of Beastmen infestation, due to a much smaller area of forests then in the Central Empire

Garrison Pikemen Drill

The key to pike fighting is discipline and trust. The soldiers are heavily drilled to ensure they hold their ranks and fill any gaps left by killed or wounded comrades. They know that to prevent their ranks being broken they must have implicit faith in the man to their side and behind them.

Alpenkorps Pikemen, Christian and Johann

 

These two Alpenkorps men display their armour and equipment, including their bearskin headpieces. Christians rucksack features a sewn patch incorporating the Imperial Cross, stitched by his wife. Although officially discouraged, many of the soldiers wives and girlfriends live and work in the forts. Providing invaluable service repairing, washing clothes and preparing meals for the soldiers.

 A Howitzer of the Garrison

 A howitzer of the garrison troops, the howitzer is a weapon that is gaining popularity in the Empire, capable of firing explosive shells with a higher level of accuracy than a mortar although with a lower trajectory whilst retaining the abililty to fire canister shot like a cannon. The garrison maintains as many guns as possible in the fortresses, mounted on the battlements, plus a number kept limbered up for sallies or field work.

Howitzer Revetment

This howitzer is dug in to a small revetment made from earth and fitted with stakes. This is a common precaution and helps protect against enemy shot and to force cavalry to move around the side, hopefully buying the crew some time to escape.

Howitzer Crew

 

The garrison maintains a high standard of training for the crew, however in battle incidents still happen, young Karl the loader had to bite open a bag of powder when he dropped his knife during the battle, resulting in him getting a mouthful of blackpowder, he is now eyeing the howitzer with some suspicion. The crew wears various levels of armour depending on how close they need to be to the cannon during firing. Inevitably their uniforms end up covered in soot from the powder.

These are pavises by Kingmaker miniatures and decals made specifically for them by LittleBigMen in the UK, I liked them particulary because they do look hand painted which is very nice.

Ost Averland Black Mountain Garrison

The people that live in the mountains and foothills of Ost (East) Averland are free of the foppishness which is common in the rest of Averland, living in the foothills of the mountains leads to a more rugged existence. This does lead to a tendency towards roughness which is looked down upon by the rest of Averland; Although the men of the more rustic states find the Eastern Averlanders much closer to their ilk. The people are like much of the Empire, farming, logging and trading for their wealth. The far flung nature of the land results in a few less of the comforts that the central Empire has. The nobility of Ost Averland tends to have a desire to emulate their more wealthy lowland neighbours and will often be as garishly dressed as possible, although not always in the latest styles.

The terrain of the mountain foothills however means that their is a distinct lack of horses, as a result the forces from East of Averland tend to be lacking in cavalry. For the Garrisons of the mountains. this usually presents little problem as the mountains are unsuitable for horses. When required to take to a traditional battlefield lack of Heavy Cavalry has to be made up by units from other provinces, if they are available.

The Ost Averland Black Mountains Garrison is responsible for the defense of the Black Mountains smaller passes and mountains, not as famous as the men who defend the main route into the Empire the Black Fire pass defenders but fulfilling a vital defensive role. The defence of the smaller passes is a never ending job and the troops end up accruing a lot of combat experience in the mountains.

The garrison forces comprise of two major forces the main garrison forces who man the passes and Forts and the Alpenkorps who patrol the mountains themselves. The troops weapon of choice is the pike whose lack of maneuverability is not an issue in the narrow mountain passes and whose reach is vital when dealing with Trolls or other large beasts.

The men of the Garrison is well supplied with funds and armour from the Averland government; who understand the importance of maintaining the bulwark of the mountains. The Garrison maintains as much heavy and plate armour as possible in the fortresses, even though it has fallen out of favour amongst the Empire at large because armour is useless when fighting against blackpowder weapons the enemies that the garrison fights are rarely equipped with such.

The Garrison favours crossbows over handguns, this is due to the logistics problem of supplying gunpowder to the high mountain passes, fletchers have a permanent place in these forts manufacturing bolts from the mountain pines and the various birds of the region. The gunpowder that the forts keep on hand is reserved primarily for the cannons and mortars which are kept in large numbers in the fortifications, vital for defending the choke points in which the Forts are constructed.

Despite the lack of horses the Garrison does keep a small of cavalry on duty as scouting forces mounted on small agile horses. Either drawn from the minor nobility of Ost Averland and formed from men of Pistolier corps or common men of the garrison troops equipped in the same way.

Although not a glamorous military presence in the Empire, the Garrison does present a good level of training and fighting ability, in field battles they will perform un-remarkably but reliably. When fighting in the mountains and narrow passes the experience and tactics of the men does much to improve their effectiveness.

The colours of the Garrison are the Yellow of Averland and White, often locally used to represent Ost Averland. This is then combined with a halved flat red to represent all of the troops fighting for the Black Mountains Garrison.

Alpenkorps Pikeman

 

A soldier of the mountaineering forces known as the Alpenkorps, these troops spend their time mountaineering the high peaks, keeping watch, reporting and small scale skirmishes with the various monsters that inhabit the cliffs and peaks. Whilst in the mountains the troops use axes, shortened polearms or swords with shields, however when deployed in a conventional battle line they most often form a pike block. Their armour is much lighter then the men to facilitate their mountaineering role compared to the Garrison troops that defend the passes. The Alpenkrops most often wear furs made from bear or mountain lion skin. In battle however the furs are discarded and only the headpiece is retained. Note this soldier retains some of his mountaineering equipment in his pack.

Garrison Pikeman

A Pikeman of the Garrison forces, responsible for defence of the forts and passes. Equipped with a pike and heavy armour, this is less of a burden on a force deployed primarily defensively, as they aren't often required to march on long campaigns with it. The heavy armour proves invaluable fighting the various Orc, Goblin, Troll and other enemies that are encountered in the passes. The bandannas and cloths are decorated with the colours of the Black Mountains garrison.

Garrison Pikeman with Pavise

A Pikeman with a Pavise shield. Pavise shields are often employed by the Garrison for their pike blocks in static positions and their Crossbowmen. The shields provided an extra level of protection from thrown or fired missiles and are often gaudily decorated.


I was on my round the world trip when a visit to Warhammer world let me see the Dogs of War pikemen up close in the cabinets, it was there I decided that those were the models for me. I will be playing these chaps as an Empire army when their done unless GW gives us a new DOW army book.

Men and Artillery will be the order of the day, Dogs of War pikemen combined with various historical miniatures as well, I will be utilizing some Perry miniatures, Kingmaker and Crusader miniatures. 

This project has been ongoing for a little while now, but I have only recently started blogging, so I will be posting updates for these regularly too (too many projects!)

Jagdgruppe 319, Imperial Navy, Aeronautica Imperialis

Aeronautica Imperialis

It’s not just Necromunda that’s a fun spin-off game, another one I enjoy is Aeronautica Imperialis, I started this little squadron project a fair while ago now, but I am going to post it up on my blog to keep things varied and as a reminder for something for me to get to! I posted this up at Warseer, Dakka Dakka and the friendly Airspace community (sadly quiet these days) sites originally so will be copying my text into here from my old logs there! 

An Imperial Navy fighter group from the planet of Kurfürst. Jagdgruppe (Hunter Group) 319 comprises 3 Jagdstaffeln (Hunter Squadrons), Jasta 80 a Thunderbolt Squadron, Jasta 1715 a Mixed Squadron of Lightnings and Thunderbolts and and Jasta 488/L a Lightning Squadron. It is quite common for Kurfürst fighter squadrons to be deployed in mixed groups of fighters, meaning they can provide the full range of aerial operations.

The planet is a temperate Imperial World, with a rotation and solar influence not unlike Holy Terra. Kurfürst features a good variety of terrains, tending towards deserts and tropical rainforests in the equatorial zone and a range of temperate plains and the expansive Ironwood forests. Somewhat lacking in natural refinable resources he main tithe and export of the world is Imperial Guard soldiers, this is complemented by a Naval base from which the Jagdgruppen are drawn. Although it has manufactorum capabilities Kurfürst's limited resources means that production goes wholly to supplying it's own Guard and Naval regiments and is unable to provide export to other Imperial Worlds.

It is widely believed, although unsubstantiated, that Kurfürst is belongs to a sector settled by the same colonists which settled the Imperial World Krieg. Several nuances of language and traditions are shared amongst a number of planets within Segmentum Tempestus. Despite this shared heritage Kurfürst never suffered the same atomic scourging that Krieg did. The men and women of the planet are as a result much less dour and fatalistic in their outlook.

Jagdgruppen 319 is an experienced combat unit. It features half a dozen notable aces amongst its ranks and the usual mix of experienced veterans and newer pilots. It's pilots are fond of displaying personal iconography and markings alongside the Squadron markings on their fighters, and this practice is encouraged by the Commanding Officers of the regiment for morale and 'esprit de corps'

The 319th Wing's flash displays the Imperial Saint Kára in her guise as the Huntress (a popular symbol amongst the Fighter Corps of the planet) wearing archaic armour and carrying a traditional hunting spear, her helmet is one is shown in the traditional Kurfürst style still worn by Infantry Regiments of the Guard and PDF. Unusually (especially for a fighter squadron) Saint Kára is not depicted in this badge with wings.

Onto the little planes!

 

To start off with I cleaned then assembled the little buggers, before I had a scheme in mind i sprayed them black instinctively. Then when I decided on light grey as a scheme I airbrushed them... and the result is...

A finish nearly identical to the Resin colour! Oh dear. Never-mind it's just the start. The mad sticky-taping begins for the next possibly too complicated for me stage!

It's what I was going for apparently.

All the planes will have individual schemes although Von Richtofen won't be making an apperance as he is already pseudo represented by an Imperial Ace with an all-red Thunderbolt.

I had two intro games of AI and it was enough to convince me to splurge on this project and buy me up some aeroplanes. I love military aviation and history combine that with my 40k fandom and it was a perfect nerdstorm.

I have made an attempt at a lozenge like scheme. With the same colours and using a neat floor mesh thing as a template. I initially attempted to replicate the lozenge scheme by cutting out a template of an actual pattern, but the results were unsatisfactory. This way I've done it now gives a fairly good 'impression' of it whilst remaining feasible to my sanity.

Here is the WIP of the aeroplanes.

The late war Pfalz with it's Silber-grau paint scheme and it's Lozenge fabric wing are the inspiration for the base colours of my Jastas.

Rise of Flight, an awesome WW1 Flight Sim (and Free to play!)

And here is the final result of the lozenge pattern. Now onto the hand paintbrush for the rest.

Then below it is fully painted up. I was a bit dubious about the camo on the wings at first but it really turned out pretty well. It was fun to paint all the little details. The decals are from the Imperial Guard kit.

Vizefeldwebel Ludwig Gaim

Ludwig Gaim is an experienced pilot in the squadron having previously served as a bombardier on a Marauder squadron. After gaining experience during the Supression of Mordox VII, Gaim applied for single seaters and upon completion of his training course was transferred to Jasta 80.

A steady and cautious pilot VzFw Gain has slowly been achieving kiills without reckless flying. His total now stands at 4, making him one away from Acedom.

His Fighter displays the Lozenge pattern camoflauge evident amongst all the Jagdstaffel's fighters, as well as the Jasta 80 markings of a Yellow horizontal stabilizer and elevators with black vertical stripes. His personal markings of 3 horizontal red stripes have been added to the nose of his Thunderbolt.