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So the blog has been quite active recently, mostly this has been catching up with all publishing all the posts that have been sitting in the draft folder for a long time! However, it's about to go quite again. The family and I were at my mother in-laws house for several weeks over the summer awaiting the arrival of the latest recruit. Naturally, the wee fella decided to take his time and arrived 15 days late! The NHS may not be the most efficient service around but when it comes to the maternity care we have received, they have always been excellent, and this time was no different.  Anyway, we arrived down on the 8th June, and we headed back on the 6th August! Partly to see family but partly as the ferries are useless and we couldn't actually get a berth! I have been busy building and painting WW2 Italians but finding time to finish them is proving challenging! Hopefully I will be able to finished them or at least goet some WiP pictures up at some point soon but it most likely ...
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Updated Italian force

Given the recent developments with the Italian army, I thought I would go through the army list again, although it will be less of a singular 1000 or 1250 point list and more of a complete army list, with all the units I have built, intend to buy and at the end some additional units that it would be nice to pick up at some point. Some.of these extra units will depend on when the Italian army book comes out and whether there are any units changes or additional units listed, but I think that is a way off yet.  Firstly well start with the models that I have built and are in the process of being painted. Rifle platoon Platoon commander - veteran - SMG - 39 Forward Observer - Regular - 75 Medic - Veteran - 30 Alpini - veteran - 5 man, 2x LMG - 95 Paracadutisti - veteran - 5 man, 5x SMG, 2x Panzerfaust - 120 Paracadutisti - veteran - 5 man,  5x SMG, 2x Panzerfaust - 120 Sniper - Regular - 52 Rifle Platoon Platoon commander - Regular - 30 Infantry - regular - 11 man, LMG - 125 Infant...
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Italian infantry

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 So after my little expedition to.ebay, I now have a number of Italian infantry built up. In total there are around 53 models, although the MMG's are built to use two bases, one 25mm and one 50mm. I had a minor issue with the bases, as I ordered some 50mm bases but being the silly bugger I am, I ordered them to the wrong place! We're currently away, staying with relatives and I ordered the bases to our house, which were not going to be back at for a few weeks yet! First up are the said MMG's. Now I am calling them medium machine guns and playing them as such, however, there are quite a few sources that refer to these as Heavy machine guns.  The gunner and loader will be based on a 50mm base, with third man, gun commander?, on 25mm. Heavy Weapons platoon, two MMG's and an officer. Now I will look to get at least one mortar at some point and maybe even a AT rifle, although not much use in the late war. Moving in to the rifle platoons, we have the the more elite troops up ...
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German force

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This time we'll look at the German forces.  Firstly the rifle platoon; Platoon commander Medic - vet SS squad - 5 man, vet, 5x assault rifles  SS squad - 5 man, vet, 5x assault rifles  Heer Vet Grenadiers - 6 man, vet, 2x LMG Volksgrenadier - inexperienced, 5 man Sd.Kfz 251/1 Half-track 'Hanomag' - vet A lot of veteran bodies here. The main focus of the army is to be a SS Veteran force of small, mobile, hard hitting units. There is the Volksgrenadiers, but these are here for objective holding and to add some extra bodies to the army. The Hanomag is there to transport the SS units around to keep them alive as they move in to position. The armoured platoon is similarly veteran; Tiger 1 - vet, command vehicle Puma - Vet The Tiger is an expensive model but is also a tough hard hitting unit. The Puma is fast and can hit pretty hard itself. Lastly we have the Heavy Weapons platoon; Platoon commander  MMG - vet Mortar - vet, spotter Here we have the ubiquitous MMG and Morta...
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British force

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After a couple of posts about the Italians, I thought I should put some posts up about the armies it will be fighting. So we'll start with the British forces. For the ever important rifle platoon we have; Platoon commander Medic Forward Observer Infantry section - 10 man, LMG Infantry section - 10 man, LMG Infantry section - 10 man, LMG Infantry section - 5 man, 3x SMG, LMG Bren carrier - LMG All of them are regular, giving this army a very standard feel to it. The five man squad will go in the bren carrier to add some speed to the army. The heavy weapons platoon is busier than most of the armies, with; Platoon commander MMG Mortar Mortar The mortars don't have spotters, relying on the Forward Observer to act as a spotter, meaning that these can stay relatively hidden at the back, although a spotter or two could be a useful addition to the army. The Artillery platoon is very focused; Platoon commander  AT Gun - medium Not the best option, especially for heavier armour but for m...
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More Italian sprues!

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 Ok, so I did a thing eBay is a dangerous place! I was having a look around and spotted what I thought was a Bolt Action Italian army sprue going for just a couple of quid. So I stuck a bid on and waited. Just a couple of hours before the end of the auction I was out bid, so I did the sensible thing and stuck another bit on. So I ended up winning with a 12 pound bid, which is the same as the base cost from the sprue shop (although they are on sale at time of posting) . Turns out that it wasn't a sprue. It was a whole box, so bargain! Bolt Action sprue Vs Wargames Atlantic sprue This now ment that I had an additional 30 bodies to add to the 38 that I already had! What I'm going to do with them I don't know! I'm sure I'll figure something out, but for now some of them are least will be put in to storage waiting to see what happens with the future Italian army book. Wargames Atlantic sprue Bolt Action sprue  There are some differences between the two sprues, with less ...
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Thoughts behind the Italians

 I thought that I would go through my Italian list that in posted up last week and tell you what my thoughts are. Starting with the base Rifle Platoon, forming the core of the army, as it should. There is a Lt with attendant, to help keep the Lt alive a bit longer plus two 5 man Paracadutisti squads each with SMG's and a couple of Panzerfausts. These are for closing down the enemy plus helping to deal with any armour, as the Italians don't have much in the way for good anti-armour. These units are backed up by a full squad of Infantry and a 5 man squad of Bersaglieri with two LMG's for some anti-infantry fire support. To support these units there will be a sniper, and AT rifle and a Light Mortar, thanks to the Bolt Action infantry support box.  Out of this platoon, the main elements that may well change are the support units. The Sniper team will probably remain as I can build one of these from the base infantry box, but the light mortar and AT rifle will need to be sourced...
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